Zoroastrianism

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Zoroastrianism was founded by Zarathustra, later deemed a prophet, in ancient Persia. He was born to Pourushaspa and Dughdova into a culture with a polytheistic religion, quite similar to early forms of Hinduism in India. Zoroaster rejected the religion of the Bronze Age Persians, with their many gods and oppressive class structure, in which the Karvis and Karapans (princes and priests) controlled the ordinary people. He also opposed animal sacrifices and the use of the hallucinogenic Haoma plant (possibly a species of ephedra) in rituals, but held the rooster as a "symbol of light" and associated it with "good against evil" because of his heraldic actions.

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According to Zoroastrian belief, when Zoroaster was 30 years old, he went into the Daiti river to draw water for a Haoma ceremony; when he emerged, he received a vision of Vohu Manah. After this, Vohu Manah took him to the other six Amesha Spentas, where he received the completion of his vision. Zoroaster believed in one creator God, teaching that only one God was worthy of worship.

Zoroaster's ideas were not taken up quickly; he originally only had one convert: his cousin Maidhyoimanha followed by his wife Hvovi and his six children (Isat Vastar, Freni, Thriti, Urvatat-Nara, Hvare chithra and Pouruchista). Two of the noted disciples of Zarathushtra, as mentioned in the Gathas, are Frashaoshtra and Jamaspa (husband of Pouruchista) of the Hvogva family.

The local religious authorities opposed his ideas, considering that their faith, power, and particularly their rituals, were threatened by Zoroaster's teaching against over-ritualising religious ceremonies. Many did not like Zoroaster's downgrading of the Daevas to evil spirits. After 12 years of little success, Zoroaster left his home.

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Finally, in the land of King (Kavi) Vishtaspa in Bactria, Zarathushtra managed to get an audience with the king. During this encounter, many of the leading priests and wise men were present, to quiz him and test his new philosophy. Zarathushtra managed to answer all questions to the satisfaction of the King, who after a few days of pondering the situation, embraces Zoroaster's ideas as the official religion of their kingdom. This was the major breakthrough in Zarathushtra's propagation of his message.

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Zoroaster passed away at the age of 77 of natural causes. Very little is known of the time between Zoroaster and the Achaemenian period, except that Zoroastrianism spread to large parts of Persia. By the time of the founding of the Achaemenid Empire, Zoroastrianism was already a well-established religion.

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It is not known how the religion spread to become the official religion of the Achaemenid dynasty. But by about 500 BC Darius I is proudly proclaiming in his inscriptions: 'By the grace of Ahura Mazda I am king; Ahura Mazda gave me the kingdom. Zoroaster's original concept of Ahura Mazda is found in what are believed to have been his own discourses, the Gathas, which form the opening section of the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism. Ahura Mazda, he says, created a pair of twin spirits as his sons. One, Spenta Mainyu, chose truth, light and life; the other, Angra Mainyu, preferred deceit, darkness and death.

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Human history, according to Zoroastrian belief, reflects the struggle between these eternal opposites, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, good and evil, light and darkness, truth and deceit. Zoroaster rejects all but one of the forms of sacrifice practiced by the Indo-Iranians, and keeps only sacrifice by fire. So fire becomes, in Zoroastrianism, the sacred symbol of truth.

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Zoroastrianism flourished during three great Persian Empires. The first was the Achaemenian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great (ca. 585 –529 B.C.). He established an empire that extended from Asia Minor in the west to India in the east and from Armenia in the north to Egypt in the south. The Achaemenians had constant conflict with the Greeks in the west of their empire. Darius, a successor of Cyrus, dispatched 600 ships and a large land force to capture Athens. The Achaemenians were on the Plain of Marathon, and their ships were to sneak towards Athens and surprise the city. When the Greeks heard of the Persians’ plan, they sent one of their runners, Phillippe, to Athens to warn the citizens there. The distance from Marathon to Athens was 26 miles and this run has been immortalized in the Marathon races held all over the world. The Persians had to withdraw from that battle.

The Achaemenian Empire came to a close with the rise of Alexander, who in 334 B.C. conquered Persia, plundered the treasury, and burned the libraries in Persepolis. Many of the priests were killed, and these priests were considered to be the living libraries of the religion, since they had committed to memory most of the sacred texts. Alexander is thought of as “the Great” by the Greeks, Egyptians, and others but is known as “the Accursed” by the Persians. Alexander died young, and the Greek-based Seleucid Empire, which succeeded him, lasted a relatively short time.

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About 250 B.C., the Parthian tribe from northeast Iran overthrew the Greeks and established an empire that was just as extensive as the Achaemenian Empire. The Parthians were also Zoroastrians and were also tolerant of the religious beliefs of conquered lands. During the approximately five hundred years of the Parthian Empire, there were continuous battles with the Romans. The Roman Empire extended to Scotland in the west. However, in the east, they were stopped by the Parthians. The Romans never took to Zoroastrianism but instead practiced Mithraism, in which the deities Mithra and Anahita were worshipped. During the five hundred years of the Parthian Empire, Zoroastrianism was quite unregulated, and hence differing forms of the religion developed.

The Magi, a priestly sect (whose name has given us 'magic'), soon become associated with Zoroastrianism - The power of Persia gives the Magi a special status; they are the wise men of the east. As such, five centuries later, they arrive to add weight and authority at the birth scene of another religion - Christianity. The Magi, who in the Christian story bring gifts to the infant Jesus, travel from a Persia ruled by the Parthians, in origin a dynasty of nomads. But the region has been culturally under the influence of Greece ever since the conquests of Alexander the Great.

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The Greeks were tolerant of other religions, and the Parthians adopt much of Zoroastrianism - even erecting fire altars in honour of Ahura Mazda. So the religion survives, though not with the status which it enjoyed under the Achaemenids. The situation improves dramatically with the fall of the Parthian dynasty, and the rise of the Sassanians, in the 3rd century AD.

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To counteract the resulting chaotic state of the religion, the Sasanians (who were also Zoroastrians) rose up against the Parthians and overthrew them in 225 A.D. The Sasanians wanted to unify Zoroastrianism and to establish rules about what Zoroastrianism was and what it was not. A High Priest was established, who was next to the King in authority. Zoroastrianism was made the state religion of the Empire, and conversions were actively made to counteract the proselytizing zeal of Christians. This missionary activity shows that Zoroastrianism was really a universal religion and not an ethnic religion, limited to one people. The founder of the Sassanian dynasty, Ardashir, has strong links with the ancient Persian religion. His father is in charge of a temple to Zoroaster in the region of the ruined Persepolis before he kills the local ruler and takes his place. Ardashir inherits this petty kingdom and enlarges it - by defeating and killing local princes - until he is in a position to be crowned king of Fars in about 208 AD.

A continuous process of slow expansion, at the expense of the Parthians, brings him to Ctesiphon. He enters the Parthian capital in triumph in about 224 and is crowned 'king of kings'. The new king is proud of one particular ancestor, Sassan; his dynasty becomes known as Sassanian.

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In the Sassanian period the main features of Zoroastrian ritual become established. The most important duty of a priest is to maintain the sacred flame of Ahura Mazda. Elaborate ceremonies are carried out to ensure its purity; the priest's mouth is even covered to avoid pollution from his breath. On important holy days, such as Nauruz (the Persian new year), the fire is displayed on a rock or high place to each community.

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The need for purity also lies behind the Zoroastrian treatment of the dead. Corpses are exposed on mountain tops, to vultures or wild dogs, until the bones are clean and dry for burial. Only in this way can earth, water or fire be preserved from pollution by dead human flesh.

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The Sasanian Empire lasted till 641 A.D., when the Arabs invaded Persia and established Islam in the land. The new regime gave the local population three choices: conversion to Islam, payment of a heavy tax imposed on nonbelievers (called the Jizya tax), or death. Consequently, in 936 A.D., a group of Zoroastrians from the town of Sanjan in the Khorasan Province of Iran made their way south to the port of Hormuz on the Persian Gulf, from where they set sail for India. They spent nineteen years on the island of Div before making final landfall on the western coast of Gujarat. These immigrants to India became known as the Parsis (that is, “those from the Persian province of Pars”). The Parsis prospered in Gujarat and later on began to move out to other parts of India. They particularly excelled and prospered when the British established themselves in India.

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