In any event, Zoroaster was born somewhere in what is now northeastern Iran or southwestern Afghanistan. The society he was born into was largely polytheist, meaning that people worshipped many gods.
Zoroaster, however, rejected polytheism. He also rejected the class structure, which he found to be oppressive, as well as the power that princes and priests had over ordinary people at the time. According to Zoroastrian tradition, at the age of 30, Zoroaster had a divine vision while bathing in a river during a pagan purification ritual. This was the first of several visions that Zoroaster had. During each vision, he asked Ahura Mazda and the Amesha Spentas questions. The answers that he received are regarded by the Zoroastrians as the teachings of Zoroastrianism.
Thus, after 12 years, Zoroaster decided to leave his homeland in search of people who would listen to him. His journey led him to Bactria, a kingdom that included parts of present-day Afghanistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan. The king and queen of Bactria were the first leaders persuaded by Zoroaster to convert to his new religion. He is regarded by Zoroastrians as supreme above all else. Furthermore, it is Ahura Mazda that created all life. All of what he created is regarded by Zoroastrians as pure.
Worldwide, there are , Zoroastrians at most, and perhaps as few as , by some estimates. Although Zoroastrians are few in number, their faith has influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam with its teachings of a single deity, a dualistic universe of good versus evil, and a final day of reckoning.
The religion professes that humankind is designed to evolve toward perfection, but is complicated by evil forces such as greed, lust and hatred, explains Mehraban Firouzgary, the head priest of the Zoroastrian temple in Tehran. According to Zoroastrians, these evil forces must be challenged proactively by developing a "good mind" that embraces a life of good thoughts, good words and good deeds.
Despite their shrinking population, Zoroastrians remain fiercely divided over whether to recognize interfaith families, let alone accept non-generational Zoroastrians.
Tens of thousands fled Persia during the Islamic incursions in the 10th Century and were granted refuge in India under the condition they did not marry outside their faith or proselytize to the Hindu majority.
Ramiyar P. Karanjia, principal of a Zoroastrian religious school in Mumbai, India, insists, "Conversion is not part of our religion. Today, Zoroastrians remain a tight-knit and self-secluded community that strongly encourages marriage within the faith. The concepts of Heaven and Hell, Judgment Day and the final revelation of the world, and angels and demons all originated in the teachings of Zarathustra, as well as the later canon of Zoroastrian literature they inspired.
Even the idea of Satan is a fundamentally Zoroastrian one; in fact, the entire faith of Zoroastrianism is predicated on the struggle between God and the forces of goodness and light represented by the Holy Spirit, Spenta Manyu and Ahriman, who presides over the forces of darkness and evil. While man has to choose to which side he belongs, the religion teaches that ultimately, God will prevail, and even those condemned to hellfire will enjoy the blessings of Paradise an Old Persian word.
Zoroastrianism may have been the first monotheistic religion, and its emphasis on dualities, such as heaven and hell, appear in Judaism, Christianity and Islam Credit: Alamy. How did Zoroastrian ideas find their way into the Abrahamic faiths and elsewhere?
According to scholars, many of these concepts were introduced to the Jews of Babylon upon being liberated by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great. They trickled into mainstream Jewish thought, and figures like Beelzebub emerged. The Greeks had previously believed humans had little agency, and that their fates were at the mercy of their many gods, who often acted according to whim and fancy. After their acquaintance with Iranian religion and philosophy, however, they began to feel more as if they were the masters of their destinies, and that their decisions were in their own hands.
Though it was once the state religion of Iran and widely practised in other regions inhabited by Persian peoples eg Afghanistan, Tajikistan and much of Central Asia , Zoroastrianism is today a minority religion in Iran, and boasts few adherents worldwide.
Many Zoroastrian traditions continue to underpin and distinguish Iranian culture, and outside the country, it has also had a noted impact, particularly in Western Europe. The similarity of the two works is uncanny, but one can only offer hypotheses.
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