Although Zoroastrians in the contemporary world are numerically few – estimated recently at less than 150,000 across the globe – their ancient Iranian ancestors ruled vast areas of the Near East for over a millennium. From the mid-sixth century BCE to the mid-seventh century CE, the historical contribution of the ‘Mazda-worshipping’ religion to the intellectual, cultural, and political development of the region was momentous. The migration of some Zoroastrians to north-western India also had a significant social and economic impact on early modern and modern India. From the mid-seventeenth century until the present, Zoroastrianism has also played an important role in European discourse.
Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, including many Zoroastrians, The Zoroastrian World presents a global guide to Zoroastrianism from the earliest period to the modern day, offering original perspectives through substantial thematic contributions on the lived experience of Zoroastrian communities across the world. This volume is organised into five distinct sections:
•Imagining Zoroastrianism
•The Developing Zoroastrian World
•Living Realities: Zoroastrian Narrative and Symbol in the Modern World
•Contemporary Challenges in the Zoroastrian World
•Creative Contributions from the Zoroastrian World
The Zoroastrian World
provides an authoritative and accessible source of information on topics relating to the Zoroastrian religion, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary connections. The volume is essential reading for students engaged in studies of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics; Ancient and Modern Iran; the Near and Middle East; Central Asia; South Asian Religions; and Cultural History. The Zoroastrian World is intended for all curious readers, who seek to know more about this ancient, enduring religion.
Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, including many Zoroastrians, The Zoroastrian World presents a global guide to Zoroastrianism from the earliest period to the modern day, offering original perspectives through substantial thematic contributions on the lived experience of Zoroastrian communities globally.
Introduction Part
1. Imagining Zoroastrianism
1. How Zoroastrianism
imagined itself
2. Recasting Zoroastrian dualism within the Greek
philosophical imagination
3. Imagining Zoroastrianism in the light of the
Maga Brahmanas and the Kambojas
4. Zoroastrianism in the Chinese imagination
5. Zoroastrianism/Persian religion in the Hebrew Bible
6. Zoroastrianism in
the Babylonian Talmud
7. Manichaean, Christian, and Mandaean views of
Zoroastrianism
8. Zoroastrianism in early Arabic sources
9. The European
rediscovery of the Ancient Persians and their worldview
10. The history of
the study of Zoroastrianism
11. Zoroastrianism and Freemasonry in
colonialera India and Britain: imagining Zoroastrianism and reimagining
Freemasonry
12. A Persian history? Achaemenid history and Zoroastrian
reception in Gore Vidals Creation
13. The fascination of the flame:
Zoroastrianism and tourism Part
2. The Developing Zoroastrian World HISTORY
14. Imagining Ahura Mazda: the earliest form of Zoroastrianism
15. Persian
religion in the Achaemenid Empire
16. Zoroastrianism in the religious context
of the Arsacid Empire
17. Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian Empire
18.
Zoroastrianism in Iran from the Arab conquests to the midnineteenth century
19. Zoroastrianism in India: from the migrations of the Parsis to the late
eighteenth century SOURCES
20. The developing Zoroastrian world and orality
21. The oldest sources for Zoroastrianism: Avestan and Old Persian
22. A
jewel of wisdom literature in the Pahlavi tradition of Zoroastrianism
23.
The meaning of Persian Zoroastrian literature
24. A historical overview of
Parsi writing in Gujarati
25. Zoroastrian literature in English from the
nineteenth to early twentieth centuries MATERIAL EVIDENCE
26. Central Asian
expressions of Zoroastrianism
27. Central Asian Zoroastrianism: can a case be
made for Sogdiana?
28. Zoroastrianism in Anatolia and the Caucasus
29. The
fire worshippers of Georgia Part
3. Living Realities: Zoroastrian Narrative
and Symbol in the Modern World
30. The role of Parsi Zoroastrians in the
evolution of British colonial India
31. Zoroastrian politics in the era of
the Constitutional Revolution in Iran (19051911)
32. Reconciling Persianate
and Western forms of knowledge: esotericism as Zoroastrian hermeneutics in
colonial India
33. Calling on divine help: Parsi religious expressions in
Mumbai, Navsari, and Surat ZOROASTRIAN COMMUNITIES IN DISAPORA
34.
Zoroastrian communities outside India and Iran
35. A personal account of
migrating to North America
36. Teach your children well: Zoroastrian
religious education DIGITAL APPROACHES TO ZOROASTRIANISM
37. The use of
digital resources in studying the Zoroastrian religion
38. Digital projects
in Zoroastrianism
39. The impact of the digital world on internal Zoroastrian
discourse Part
4. Contemporary Challenges in the Zoroastrian World INTERNAL
CHALLENGES
40. Demographic issues and identity in twentyfirstcentury
India: Jiyo Parsi
41. The reverberations of the dokhmenashini debate in
Mumbai and Zoroastrian death rituals practised in India PERSPECTIVES ON THE
ZOROASTRIAN PRIESTHOOD
42. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood in India
43.
Perspectives on the Zoroastrian priesthood in Iran
44. Perspectives on the
Parsi priesthood from the UK: an interview with Ervad Yazad T. Bhadha
45.
Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood from the United States: an interview
with Ervad Zerkxis Bhandara
46. Who speaks for Zoroastrianism today? THE
CHANGING ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN
47. The changing roles of men and women
within the Iranian Zoroastrian community
48. The changing roles of Parsi men
and women in India CARING FOR THE ELDERLY
49. Care for the Zoroastrian
elderly in India
50. A caring model for the elderly in the UK EXTERNAL
CHALLENGES
51. Zoroastrianism and human rights
52. Zoroastrianism and the
environment: reviving the forests of Doongerwadi in Mumbai, India
53.
Zoroastrian approaches to business ethics and sustainable development in
contemporary times Part
5. Creative Contributions from the Zoroastrian World
54. First Darling of the Morning: an interview with Parsi novelist, Thrity
Umrigar
55. A larger laughter: the unique legacy of Parsi theatre
56. The
house of song
57. Devotional poetry and songs of the Zoroastrians of Iran
58.
I yam what I yam: a conversation with screenwriter, director, and
photographer, Sooni Taraporevala
59. The Garden of the Universe: an interview
with artist Hormazd Narielwalla
60. Identity and silk: the emergence and
reemergence of SinoParsi trade textiles 61 You have to crack a few eggs to
make a Parsi omelette: an interview with chef and culinary author, Farokh
Talati 62 Memories of growing up in Iran, Persian food, Zoroastrian
festivals, and life as an author and cookery writer: an interview with Shirin
Simmons 63 How Parsis helped make India a cricketing nation
Jenny Rose is a Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University, where she taught classes in Zoroastrian Studies before relocating to the UK in 2023. Her books relating to the Zoroastrian world include Zoroastrianism: An Introduction (2011), Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed (2011), and Between Boston and Bombay: Cultural and Commercial Connections of Yankees and Parsis, 17711865 (2019).
Albert de Jong is Professor of the Study of Religion at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. He mainly works on Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, the Mandaeans, and the Roman cult of Mithras.
Sarah Stewart is a Reader Emeritus at SOAS, University of London. She studied at ANU and SOAS before going on to teach in the Department of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS. She was a Curator of the exhibition The Everlasting Flame, Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination (Brunei Gallery, London 2013; National Museum, Delhi 2016) and Co-Founder of the SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute for Zoroastrian Studies (SSPIZS) in 2017. Her publications include Voices from Zoroastrian Iran, Vols. 1 and 2 (2018, 2020).
