Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town in the British protectorate of Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) on 5 September 1946. His parents, Bomi (1908–2003) and Jer Bulsara (1922–2016), were from the Parsi community of western India. The Bulsaras had origins in the city of Bulsar (now Valsad) in Gujarat.