Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla

Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla (22 September 1875 to 25 May 1956), also abbreviated M. N. Dhalla, was a Pakistani Zoroastrian priest and religious scholar. He is best known for his criticism of the orthodox factions within the Parsi community, in particular his stringent opposition to the excessive ritualization of religious practice, including the use of the Towers of Silence. In his autobiography he was also critical of the orthodox refusal to accept converts, warning that the community's closed membership and falling birth rate threatened its very existence. As Head Priest of a community he described as mostly conservative and served by an overwhelmingly orthodox priestly class, he said he generally based his rulings on the community's traditional treatises rather than his own more liberal personal views.