In 1922, a group of wealthy Parsis in Bombay founded an organization that they dubbed the Iran League. Originally designed to assist their fellow Zoroastrians in Iran, who had suffered from centuries of oppression, the League quickly expanded its objectives to include the promotion of broader Indo-Iranian cultural and economic relations. It became a major player in the flow of ideas, literature, business, and tourist traffic between the two countries. Parsi fervour for Iran stemmed from the brand of Iranian nationalism promoted by Reza Shah, which celebrated the country's Zoroastrian past. In response, the League's leaders argued that the Parsis of India could play a special role in the ‘regeneration’ of Iran under the shah's supposedly benign rule. By the 1930s, however, Parsis’ embrace of Iranian nationalism became a clear reflection of their deep concerns about Indian nationalist politics: they cast Iran as an idealized alternative to contemporary India, where the Indian National Congress had supposedly taken an ominously ‘anti-Parsi’ turn. The Iran League, therefore, was caught between two nationalisms. Worry about India's future even prompted some Parsis to argue that their community should ‘return’ to their ancestral homeland of Iran. The story of the Iran League thus demonstrates the complex position of minorities vis-à-vis the brands of nationalism in development during the interwar years. The Parsis, a wealthy but microscopic minority, responded to political anxieties at home by romanticizing a foreign country and taking part in a wholly foreign nationalist project.

中文翻译：

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夹在两种民族主义之间：孟买的伊朗联盟和印度少数民族的政治焦虑

1922 年，一群富有的帕西人在孟买成立了一个他们称之为伊朗联盟的组织。最初旨在帮助遭受数百年压迫的伊朗琐罗亚斯德教同胞，该联盟迅速扩大其目标，包括促进更广泛的印度-伊朗文化和经济关系。它成为两国之间思想、文学、商业和旅游交通的主要参与者。帕西人对伊朗的热情源于礼萨沙阿（Reza Shah）提倡的伊朗民族主义品牌，该品牌庆祝该国的琐罗亚斯德教历史。作为回应，该联盟的领导人认为，在伊朗国王所谓的良性统治下，印度的帕西人可以在伊朗的“再生”中发挥特殊作用。然而到了 1930 年代，帕西斯对伊朗民族主义的拥护清楚地反映了他们对印度民族主义政治的深切担忧：他们将伊朗视为当代印度的理想化替代品，而印度国民大会据称已经采取了不祥的“反帕西”转向。因此，伊朗联盟陷入了两种民族主义之间。对印度未来的担忧甚至促使一些帕西人争辩说，他们的社区应该“返回”他们的祖籍伊朗。因此，伊朗联盟的故事表明了少数族裔在两次世界大战期间相对于民族主义品牌的复杂地位。帕西人是一个富有但微不足道的少数民族，他们通过浪漫化外国和参与一个完全外国的民族主义项目来应对国内的政治焦虑。