India, March 14 -- In the third week of the US-Israel war on Iran, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the beleaguered West Asian country has led to a looming global shortage of gas and fuel. In India, one of Iran's oldest trade partners, the crisis is growing bigger by the day as most of India's energy needs are met through gas and oil that pass through this narrow gateway between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

Like much of the Persian region, Hormuz has Zoroastrian roots that now live on only in name. During the twilight of the Sassanian empire, around 640 CE, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang reported about Po-la-sse (Fars) while travelling in Sind. According to his account, the main commercial town on its eastern frontier was ...