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Irani Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism
Origin 651 to 1800 CE

The Zoroastrians who remained in Iran after the coming of Islam, together with later Iranian Zoroastrians who migrated to India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries seeking relief from persecution and hardship, where they are known as Iranis. They kept the faith in its Persian homeland, chiefly in the regions of Yazd and Kerman, often under great pressure as a small minority, and they preserve the language, calendar, and customs of that setting. Like all Zoroastrians they worship Ahura Mazda, honor the teaching of Zarathushtra, revere fire and the purity of the elements, and live by good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. They differ from the long-settled Parsis mainly in their more recent departure from Iran, in some customs and pronunciation, and historically in calendar, a difference that once caused dispute; the two communities share one religion and increasingly intermingle.

Facts
Organisation
Governance
Priestly office passing by descent 1
Governance
Lay boards or trusts govern, alongside the priesthood 1
The Tehran Zoroastrian Anjuman and the anjumans of Yazd and Kerman.
Ordination
Restricted to men 1
Ordination
Office passes by descent 1
Relation to the State
Privileged Never Established 3
Iran's constitution recognises Zoroastrianism, alongside Judaism and Christianity, as a protected religious minority under Article 13, guaranteeing it freedom to perform its religious rites and a reserved seat in parliament, a constitutionally named privilege that stops well short of the established status the same constitution gives Twelver Shia Islam.
Origins
Origin Period
651 to 1800 CE 1
Origin Period
A distinct "Irani" identity emerges only in contrast with the Parsis of India 1
Place of Origin
Yazd and Kerman, in central Iran 1
Founder
No founder. 1
Belief
Defining Doctrinal Position
Ahura Mazda opposed by a destructive principle, made real through good thought, word and deed 2
History
Separation or Divergence
No doctrinal separation from the Parsis 1
Separation or Divergence
The Iranis are the community that remained in Iran, and the two have exchanged priests, texts and correspondence since the fifteenth century 1
Practice
Liturgical Language
Avestan 1
Status
Status Today
Living tradition, practised today 1
Continuous in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran, and much diminished. Substantial emigration since 1979 has moved part of the community to North America and Europe
Learn More
The Ones Who Stayed, and the Ones Who Came Later

Irani Zoroastrians are distinguished from Parsis by a thousand years and one migration, and by almost nothing doctrinal.

The Parsis left Iran after the Arab conquest. The Iranis are the descendants of those who did not, and, in the Indian usage, specifically of those who emigrated much later, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fleeing hardship and persecution under the Qajars. They settled chiefly in Bombay and Hyderabad, arriving in a country where a Zoroastrian community of great antiquity and considerable wealth was already established, and they did not simply merge with it.

The differences are ethnic, linguistic and legal rather than theological. Many Iranis speak Zoroastrian Dari, a distinct Iranian dialect, where Parsis speak Gujarati. Their customs and pronunciation retain the Iranian forms. A ruling in 1909 confirmed that they were not bound by the decisions of the Parsi Punchayet, so they fall outside the institution that governs Parsi communal life. And they follow the Iranian calendar, aligning with the Fasli reckoning against the Parsi Shahanshahi majority, so the calendar split, which looks like a doctrinal quarrel, maps exactly onto the two migrations.

There is no substantial doctrinal difference between the two communities. Both hold the Avesta, both honour the teaching of Zarathustra, both tend the fire, both live by good thoughts, good words and good deeds. Intermarriage between them is now common, and the distinction matters chiefly to the institutions rather than to the people in them.

In Iran, and the Counting Problem

The larger part of the subject is not in India at all. Zoroastrians remained in Iran continuously, chiefly around Yazd and Kerman, through thirteen centuries as a barely tolerated minority: subject to the poll tax levied on non-Muslims, to periodic pressure to convert, to legal disabilities and at times to violence. The nineteenth century was particularly hard, and the emigration to India was its result. Parsi philanthropy from Bombay, organised through a society formed for the purpose, worked to relieve the position of the Iranian community and secured the abolition of the poll tax on them in 1882.

Present figures for Iran are usually given as fifteen to twenty-five thousand. The Islamic Republic recognises Zoroastrians as a protected religious minority with a reserved seat in parliament, and also maintains legal disabilities and a prohibition on conversion out of Islam that shapes what the community can do.

The counting is unusually unreliable, and one caution is worth recording specifically. Population series published for Iranis in India run into six figures and cannot be counts of Irani Zoroastrians, since they exceed the total Zoroastrian population of the country several times over. The word Irani in India also denotes a community of Iranian origin that is not Zoroastrian, and figures that do not distinguish the two are useless for this purpose.

What can be said is that the Irani Zoroastrians are a small community within a small community, that they are generally described as more open to conversion than the Bombay Parsi establishment, and that they share fully in the decline that is the defining feature of Zoroastrian life everywhere.

Irani Zoroastrianism
Filter Results4 entries

A closed community forbidding conversion and intermarriage

Irani Zoroastrianism

Ahura Mazda as the one supreme creator

Irani Zoroastrianism

Preservation of Iranian Zoroastrian tradition

Irani Zoroastrianism

The cosmic struggle of good and evil

Irani Zoroastrianism
Connections

Associated With

The Kabiseh Calendar Controversy, Religious Events
Source The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and MigrationJohn R. Hinnells

Belongs to Tradition

Zoroastrianism, Religions

Branch Of

Zoroastrianism, Religions

Governed By Polity

Hereditary Priesthood Polity, Doctrines
Lay Trust Polity, Doctrines

Holds Element

Barsom, Sacred Objects & Ritual Items

The Iranian priesthood keeps the rods in the same office as the Parsi priesthood, the two traditions differing in calendar and in detail rather than in the liturgy's furniture.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Chak Chak, Sacred Sites

The rock shrine in the cliff above Ardakan is the destination of the largest annual pilgrimage of the Iranian community.

Denkard, Other Writings

The Denkard, the ninth century compendium of Zoroastrian belief and practice, is scripture held by this community.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Haoma, Sacred Objects & Ritual Items

The pressed offering is made in Iran as in India, with a local plant standing where the original one cannot be had.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Kusti, Religious Dress & Vestments

The cord is tied at the prayer times as in Parsi practice, and its retention through centuries of pressure in Iran is one of the marks of the surviving community.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Magus, Religious Roles & Titles

Held in the Iranian community on the same hereditary basis, under the mobed.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Qissa-i Sanjan, Other Writings

The migration narrative belongs to the community that left for India; the Iranian Zoroastrians are the community that stayed, so the poem records the parting rather than their own story.

Source The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and MigrationJohn R. Hinnells
Sandalwood, Incense

The Iranian community offers sandalwood to the fire on the same terms as the Parsi community, with local woods used where sandalwood cannot be had.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Sudreh, Religious Dress & Vestments

The shirt is worn by the initiated of the Iranian community on the same terms as in the Parsi community, the two differing in calendar and in ritual detail rather than in this.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
The Towers of Silence, Yazd, Sacred Sites

Exposure at the towers above Yazd ended in the nineteen seventies, and Zoroastrians in Iran now bury in graves lined so that the body does not touch the earth.

Yatha Ahu Vairyo, Mantras

Recited in the same words as among the Parsis, the two communities having been separated by migration and not by rite.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce
Yazd Atash Behram, Sacred Sites

The fire at Yazd is the principal consecrated fire of the community that remained in Iran, housed in a building of the nineteen thirties.

Held Differently

Gathic Recitation (Avestan Manthra Chanting), Sacred Sound

The Iranian priestly pronunciation of Avestan differs from the Parsi, and comparing the two traditions of recitation is one of the ways the older sound has been reconstructed.

Source Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and PracticesMary Boyce

Objects and Practices of This Tradition

A closed community forbidding conversion and intermarriage, Beliefs & Restrictions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Ahura Mazda, Doctrines

The one supreme, wholly good creator God, the Wise Lord, is worshipped by this community as by all Zoroastrians.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Ahura Mazda as the one supreme creator, Beliefs & Restrictions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Angra Mainyu, Doctrines

The hostile, destructive spirit, the origin of evil and disorder, is affirmed in this community's cosmic dualism.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Asha, Doctrines

Truth, righteousness and the right ordering of the cosmos, opposed to the Lie, is the fundamental Zoroastrian principle held by this community.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Avesta, Scriptures & Texts

The Avesta, the collected sacred texts of Zoroastrianism in the Avestan language, is scripture held by this community as by all Zoroastrians.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Bundahishn, Scriptures & Texts

The Bundahishn, the Zoroastrian account of creation and cosmic history, is scripture held by this community.

Source The Bundahishn: The Zoroastrian Book of CreationDomenico Agostini and Samuel Thrope
Chak Chak, Sacred Sites
Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Dastur, Religious Offices
Denkard, Other Writings

The Denkard, the ninth century compendium of Zoroastrian belief and practice, is scripture held by this community.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Druj, Doctrines

The Lie, falsehood and disorder, the moral and cosmic opposite of Asha, is Zoroastrian doctrine held by this community.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Frashokereti, Doctrines

The final renovation of the world, when evil is defeated and creation restored to perfection, is Zoroastrian eschatology held by this community.

Source The Bundahishn: The Zoroastrian Book of CreationDomenico Agostini and Samuel Thrope
Gathas, Scriptures & Texts

The Gathas, the hymns attributed to Zarathushtra himself, are the oldest and most sacred layer of scripture held by this community.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, Doctrines

The threefold ethical maxim at the heart of Zoroastrian practice is held by this community as the way of taking the side of Asha.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Good thoughts, good words, good deeds, Beliefs & Restrictions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Isatis (2020 documentary), Screen Works

Depicts the living Zoroastrian community of Yazd, Iran, the historic center of Irani Zoroastrianism as distinct from the Parsi diaspora tradition already covered elsewhere in the atlas, tracing its fire tradition as a present day practice rather than shared general Zoroastrian canon.

Source Earth Futures Festival, official synopsis for IsatisEarth Futures Festival
Khordeh Avesta, Scriptures & Texts

The Khordeh Avesta, the book of common prayer drawn from the Avesta, is scripture used in this community's daily devotion.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Khvarenah, Doctrines

The divine glory resting on a legitimate ruler, departing from one who does wrong, is Zoroastrian and Persian doctrine held by this community.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Mobed, Religious Offices
Nowruz, Holidays & Festivals

Irani Zoroastrians keep Nowruz at the equinox itself, their calendar having stayed aligned with the season, and observe it in the Iranian manner with the haft-sin table and about two weeks of visiting.

Source The Zend-Avesta, Part III: the Yasna, Visparad, Afrinagan, Gahs (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 31)L. H. Mills
Preservation of Iranian Zoroastrian tradition, Beliefs & Restrictions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Religious conversion, Doctrines

Why this is disputed. Zoroastrians of Iran and the wider Iranian diaspora have generally been more open to conversion and interfaith families than the historically endogamous Parsi community of India, though the question remains argued within both.

Source The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and MigrationJohn R. Hinnells
Tending the sacred fire, Practices
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
The Amesha Spentas, Doctrines

The six Bounteous Immortals through whom Ahura Mazda creates and sustains the world are venerated in this community.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
The Chinvat Bridge, Doctrines

The bridge of judgement every soul crosses after death, broad for the righteous and narrow as a blade for the wicked, is held by this community.

Source The Bundahishn: The Zoroastrian Book of CreationDomenico Agostini and Samuel Thrope
The cosmic struggle of good and evil, Beliefs & Restrictions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
The Fravashi, Doctrines

The pre-existent guardian spirit of every being, especially the righteous dead, is honoured in this community.

Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
The Towers of Silence, Yazd, Sacred Sites
Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce
Vendidad, Scriptures & Texts

The Vendidad, the priestly code addressing purity law, is scripture held by this community.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Yasna, Scriptures & Texts

The Yasna, the central liturgical collection including the Gathas, is scripture used in this community's worship.

Source The AvestaAnonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)
Yazd Atash Behram, Sacred Sites
Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce

Originates in Language

Avestan, Languages
Source A History of ZoroastrianismMary Boyce

Related To

The End of Sasanian Patronage, Religious Events

Sacred to This Deity

Yazd, Cities

The Irani Zoroastrian community centres on Yazd and Kerman.

Uses Liturgical Language

Avestan, Languages
Sources
1. A History of Zoroastrianism
Mary Boyce, Brill, 1989View the Source
2. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices
Mary Boyce, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1979View the Source
3. International Religious Freedom Report
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, 2023View the Source
The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration
John R. Hinnells, Oxford University Press, 2005View the Source
The Avesta
Anonymous (Zoroastrian tradition)The Gathas and the Yasna
Quote, The Gathas and the Yasna
Held in common by both Zoroastrian communities. The differences between Parsis and Iranis are of language, custom and calendar rather than of doctrine.
View the Source
Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005Entry on Zoroastrianism in Iran
Quote, Entry on Zoroastrianism in Iran
A tolerated minority around Yazd and Kerman for thirteen centuries; the poll tax on Zoroastrians was abolished in 1882.
View the Source
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