female priests, politicians, warriors and this even up to the Sasanian time," he said. Potential corroboration may be found in the oral tradition of the Parsis, which acknowledges a female priest named Testar as among those who fled religious persecution and forced conversions in Arab-conquered Persia to establish a new homeland in Sanjan, Gujarat around the ninth century.

In 2011, eight women were certified to serve the community as mobedyars. However, female