RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Zoroaster
Achaemenides confirmed Zoroastrians? Native tradition emphatically asserts it. The first great disaster to the religion, assuming that under the Achaemenides this faith had become national, was that which befell it under Alexander the Great, and stress is laid particularly upon the loss of the great bedy of scriptures, when he conquered Darius ITI. Codomannus in 331 B.c. While the great body of the Vendidad bears marks of a considerably later age, and many modern scholars dispute the credibility of the Parsee tradition as to the loss of the literature, there are facts which indicate that at the time given some disaster was received which included in its scope that literature. Few would now hold, however, that the twenty-one Nasks were in existence and were so nearly ‘completely lost. The period which set in with the break-up of the Alexandrian empire, especially the times of the Seleucide (q.v.), who at times controlled considerable portions of Persia, was surely not favorable to the religion, and its continuance, or at least its dominance, was confined to the eastern portion of the region. Independent kingdoms arose in Bactria and Parthia, and there the seeds of the later rejuvenescence were preserved. But Greek ideas and colonization had their effect and seriously threatened the existence of Zoroastrianism. A period of revival came under the Arsacide (248 B.c.—229 a.p.), though the adherence of this line to Zoroastrianism seems to have been rather formal than deep-seated. Among the royal advisers were the ‘‘ Magians,”’ whose council existed alongside that of the nobles and had weight in political affairs. But the force of Hellenism was probably felt in the lessened zeal of the dynasty for the Mazdayaznian faith, and it had made inroads into custom and religious belief. Yet the native religion seems to have gathered strength and to have taken on some of the features of a national faith. The Iranian element of the population appears to have gained in importance, rising toward dominance in the region and preparing for the Sassanian fuller revival. To a king Valkhash of the Sassanian dynasty (211-641 a.p.) is ascribed (Dinkart, iii—iv.) the collection of the Avesta fragments, which is itself a suggestive fact. This king may have been the Vologeses I. who was contemporary with Nero. With the establishment of the Sassanian empire began a new period of splendor and dominion for the Mazdayaznian religion. The founder of this empire, Ardashir (Artaxerxes) I., began his reign in 211-212 a.p., and by 226 a.p. had overthrown the Parthian rule, while his son and successor, Shapur (Sapor) I., continued the extension of the kingdom, and meeting the Roman Emperor Valerian (q.v.) defeated him and took him prisoner. But reverses met Shapur in Asia Minor and nearer home, so that the Sassanian power was restricted to eastern and southern Mesopotamia and Iran proper. This had much to do with the area over which Zoroastrianism spread. The new dynasty managed to combine in its ideals national and religious elements. Ardashir seems to have been a devoted Zoroastrian, and again under him the priesthood ranked with the nobility. He is recognized in Persian tradition as the second father of
XII.—34
2. To the Mohammedan Conquest.
the Avesta, who assigned the task of collecting the fragments to the high-priest Tansar (Jansar), and the Vendidad is by a number of scholars assigned to this period. After Shapur I. Greek influence died out in that region and the Pahlavi came into its own as the vehicle of thought. The detail of cultic ceremonial was worked out—not, of course, that this was a creation of the period, but rather the codification of traditions and customs that in many cases reached far back and bear the stamp of primitive belief. Under Shapur I. Mani (see Mani, Manr- CHEANS) arose and began his propaganda, and found some favor even at court. Zoroastrian tradition tells of a great debate in which the old religion conquered; it yet had to combat the persistency of Manicheism, which continued to spread, and under Bahram I., successor to Shapur, Mani was executed. In this period also the Iranian faith came into conflict with Christianity, each firmly insistent upon its own exclusive claims. Each therefore became a bulwark against the diffusion of the other; where Christianity penetrated the Persian empire, it was only to become the object of persecution, as under Shapur IT. (310-379). Then, some hold, the Avesta was completed, heresy (against Zoroastrianism) was proscribed, and defection from the faith made a capital offense (Sachall, in the Mittheilungen of the Seminar for Oriental Languages in Berlin, X., ii., 1907). Still, under later rulers, attacks upon the true faith of Mazdayaznians were made by new sects like the Mazdakites under Kavadh I. (488-531), whose successor Chosroes I. (531-579) restored the old religion in what was supposed to be its early purity. The beginning of the end of Zoroastrianism in this region is seen in the coming of the Turks c. 560. Romans and Parthians had nearly worn each other out in their wars, and the conflict continued in the seventh century. Then a new foe arose in the south, whose attack ranged eastward, and in 641 the Persian kingdom fell to the Arabs in the battle of Nehavend. Zoroastrianism soon was almost extinct in Iran, and the Parsees (see below, VII.) emigrated to India.
VII. The Zoroastrian System: A history of Mazdeism in detail would involve discussion of three stages: the pre-Zoroastrian, the Zoroastrian, and
the post-Zoroastrian. In this article
1. Maz- the last two will be treated together,
deism and since it is not possible to separate them
Vedism. with entire certainty in tracing the
several doctrines, although it is clear . that the principal doctrines and beliefs of the later form are present implicitly in the earlier Zoroastrian teaching. The first of the three stages is revealed in the effects it had upon the notions concerning the spiritual beings, worships, and ideals of the Zoroastrian system, in the features common to it and the Vedic-Brahmanic beliefs. For although there are Zoroastrian conceptions which are common to the Indo-European peoples, the connections with the Aryans of India are particularly intimate. Thus the supreme place occupied by fire is but an exaltation of the function of fire in the Indian religion (Agni); the Soma of India has its correlative in the Haoma of Iran; the investiture with the sacred thread is common to both, though differently
Zoroaster