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Introduction/Beginning of the "Zoroastrianism in Iran'' Wikipedia:

Zoroastrianism is the oldest remaining religion in Iran. It was found around the middle of the second millennium BCE, The religion spread through the Iranian area, through conversions and eventually became state religion in the Achaemenian Empire. This happened in the 6th century BCE. The religion still survives to this day in small communities, mostly located in present Iran and India. The Zoroastrians in India are called Parsis.

Background and the Religion The Zoroastrian religion is credited to the prophet Zoroaste r, who is also known as Zarathushtra and the religion is named after him. Zoroaster was supposedly the one that found this religion around the middle of the second millennium BCE. In contemporary times, it is stated that Zoroastrianism is a religion whose followers worship one God. The God’s name is Ahura Mazda, which is the good divine. He has sacred beings alongside him, like individual deities but also natural phenomena. In opposition, there is also an embodiment of evil, that wants to bring disorder and destruction. This evil comes in the form of Angra Mainyu in the Avestan and in the form of Ahreman in Middle Persian.

The believe in a good and bad divine, seems to be part of a dualistic religion. The Zoroastrian religion can therefore be seen as a dualistic or polytheistic religion. There is however a lot of resistance against this idea. Modern scholars have tried to label the religion as monotheistic. More so, the only monotheistic religion of Indo-European origin. Even though these terms are used frequently, there is no indication that these terms were known in ancient times and the Zoroastrians themselves did not put a label on their religion, at least not until the early Islamic period. The reason for this, is because there are not many old written records about the religion.

Scholarship on Zoroastrianism in Iran

The Europeans ‘’discovered’’ Zoroastrianism in Iran, when they started to explore the world and went to Iran. This happened somewhere in the seventeenth century. The present and influence of the Europeans goes beyond dynasties. When the Europeans arrived in Iran, they felt surprisingly good about this land. It had a cultural sophistication, that they had not found in other places that they had visited. Initially, they did not know much about Zoroastrianism, but the fascination of the Europeans for the land and the religion turned into academic study of the Orient.

The Europeans did not have good relations or history with the religion Islam, which was dominantly present in the area at that time. Zoroastrianism however, is a pre-Islamic religion that survived, so this made it extra interesting for them. The first European scholars who researched Zoroastrianism in Iran, were mainly from the Christian religion. The Christian religion is seen as monotheistic and superior by Europeans. Since the Europeans were fascinated by and positive about Zoroastrianism in Iran, they were the first to try to label this religion with concepts they knew, like monotheistic.

The Zoroastrians themselves were probably involved with the studies of their religion as well. We know this, because modern scholarship has stated that Orientalist studies did not emerge in isolation. In fact, they resulted from interaction and intellectual exchange between the scholars and the people that they study. So, chances are big that the Zoroastrians shaped the ideas about their religion as well.

These first studies set the tone for our ideas about Zoroastrianism in Iran. Discussions about the origin and nature of the religion still continue, both in Western and in Iranian studies.

Achaemenid Dynasty

It is suggested that by the time of Darius the Great (549 BC– 485/486 BC), the empire was Zoroastrian. This is due to one of Darious' inscriptions which goes as follow:"'A great God is Ahuramazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king over many, one lord over many.' (This quote was already in there. I just changed the information around it. There was no citation for it)"This leads to the belief that the Zoroastrian religion is the oldest religion of Iran. More importantly, it is suggested to be the original religion of Iran. Besides the inscription above, there is however not necessarily any notion or evidence for these statements.

Pahlavi Dynasty (Modern History) As a minority, the Zoroastrians regularly faced discrimination over the years. They were still a minority in Iran in the Twentieth Century, but their status was about to change. In 1906, the state declared a new Constitution. This Constitution did not mention Zoroastrianism as a religion, but it did grant the Zoroastrians fundamental individual rights. They got these rights, because they were now viewed as people of the Iranian Empire. In practice however, they were still not as equal as a Muslim and they were still facing difficulties.

When the Pahlavi Reign in Iran started in the 1920s, the Zoroastrians started to experience more equal treatment. It was also during this time that nationalism in Iran started to come up and Iran as a nation state was born. For this new nation state, the Pahlavi’s chose a narrative where the pre-Islamic era was glorified and they actively promoted this narrative. The new nation-state and the people now started to view the ancient history with pride. Since Zoroastrianism is an ancient pre-Islamic religion, it was now glorified as the historic and original Iranian religion. This changed the status of Zoroastrians from being one of the most persecuted minorities in Iran to a symbol of Iranian nationalism. This notion would carry on all the way through untill the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Islamic Republic

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979 in Iran, there also came a new Constitution. This new Constitution acknowledges the rights of recognized religious minorities, like the Armenian, Assyrian and Persian Jewish communities, Zoroastrianism is therefore still recognized as a religion in Iran and the followers have certain rights. In the new Constitution, it is for example stated that they are free to perform their religious rites and ceremonies. Zoroastrians are also politically involved. On the grounds of the 1906 Constitution, they are allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament. This one is currently held by Esfandiar Ekhtiari Kassnavieh.