The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Zoroastrianism S 489

Beginning about 635 C . E . Muslim armies invaded and then conquered Persia. The vast majority of Persians converted to Islam. As a result, perhaps only 25,000 Zoroastrians, known as Gab ars, remain in Iran today. They are concentrated in the remote cities of Yazd and Kerman. By 1000 C . E . Zoroastrians from Persia began settling in the western Indian region of Gujarat. There they are known as P ARSEES , because they came from Persia. For centuries the Parsees prac ticed agriculture, but under British rule in the 19th century they entered business, education, and the professions and became very influential. In the 19th century Parsees began to leave India and settle in trading outposts of the British Empire. In the period after Indian independence in 1947 sig nificant Parsee communities were established in London and Toronto. BELIEFS The sacred collection of writings of the Zoroastri ans is known as the Avesta or Z END A VESTA . Among other writings it contains hymns by Zarathustra known as Gathas. Because Zoroastrianism has suf fered throughout its history, only part of the Avesta survives today. The central figure of Zoroastrian worship is Ahura Mazda, also known as Ormazd. He is eter nal and uncreated and is said to have seven heav enly attendants, led by Spenta Mainyu, sometimes translated as “Holy Spirit.” Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Angra Mainyu, “Evil Spirit,” also known as Ahriman. Zoroastrians think of the world as a battle ground between these two sides. The heavenly attendants of Ahura Mazda have chosen to follow Truth. Angra Mainyu and the daevas have chosen to follow the Lie. Human beings are now called upon to choose Truth over the Lie, goodness over evil. Zoroastrians also teach that there will be a final battle at the end of time. In that battle Ahura Mazda will defeat Angra Mainyu once and for all. They also teach that human beings are judged after death. They must walk across the Bridge of Rec ompense, which traverses an abyss. For a deceased person who has followed the Truth, the Bridge is

At first many Jews were sceptical of Zionism. The sceptics included ultraconservative Hasidic Jews as well as very liberal Reform Jews. After the Holocaust, Zionism became common in all forms of J UDAISM except H ASIDISM . Later, although Zion ism generally implied support for Israel, some radi cal Zionists are considered overly zealous. Zoroastrianism A religion begun in Iran by the prophet Z ARATHUSTRA . Its followers WORSHIP only one G OD , Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism teaches that the world is the site of a struggle between good and EVIL . It also maintains that there will be a final judgment after death. HISTORY No one knows when Zarathustra lived. Some date him close to 1000 B . C . E . Others date him in the sixth century B . C . E . In any case, he lived in eastern Iran and reformed the traditional Iranian religion. He advocated the worship of Ahura Mazda (Lord of Wisdom) as the one true God. He also con ceived of the traditional daevas—a word related to the English word “deity”—not as gods but as evil spirits. He eliminated the SACRIFICES that the daevas originally received. Zoroastrianism flourished under the Persian emperors known as the Achaemenids. The emper ors Darius (ruled, 522–486 B . C . E . and Xerxes (ruled, 486–465 B . C . E .) made it the official religion of their empire. The precise relations between Zoroastrian ism and the traditional Persian priests known as MAGI are disputed. After the conquests of Alexander the Great (356–323 B . C . E .), Zoroastrianism adopted a very low profile. Little was heard of it again until the Sassanids came to power in Persia (ruled, 224–636 C . E .). At that time, Ahura Mazda became known as Ormazd; the evil spirit oppos ing him became Ahriman. Several offshoots of Zoroastrianism also appeared. These included M ANICHAEISM , a once prominent religion whose adherents were spread from the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa all the way to the Pacific coast of China.