History of Zoroastrianism
Introduction
Scope of the Work. This book is the revised and much enlarged edition of my Zoroastrian Theology, which has been out of print for the past fifteen years. The publication of my Zoroastrian Civilization, and Our Perfecting World, Zarathushtra's Way of Life, and professional duties have delayed the completion of the work. I have inserted new material in several chapters and added nineteen new chapters to the ook. I have given a concise account of the religious beliefs and practices prevalent among the Zoroastrians and their early Iranian ancestors from the pre-Gathic times to the present day and named the book History of Zoroastrianism.
Arrangement and method. I have divided the entire period of the history of Zoroastrianism on the linguistic basis. The earliest Zoroastrian documents are the Gathas, written in the Gathic dialect. They represent the earliest phase of the religion of Zoroaster. But ancient Iran had a religion which preceded Zoroastrianism in point of time. I have labelled this period pre-Gathic; for its beginning is lost in remote antiquity, and the advent of Zoroaster brings its end.
The time when Zoroaster flourished is a moot question. The approximate date at which he lived is 1000 B.C. Zoroaster revolutionizes the religious life of the Iranians, which hitherto represented the evolutionary phase of religion. It was the movement in which we find the religious thought creeping for...
CONTENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY / xix
ABBREVIATIONS / xxix
INTRODUCTION / xxxi
PRE-GATHIC PERIOD: From the earliest times to about 1000 B.C.
I. THE SOURCES / 3
II. AIRYANA VAEJAH / 8
III. ZARATHUSHTRA / 11
IV. TOWARDS MONOTHEISM / 27
V. AHURA MAZDA / 30
VI. SPENTA MAINYU / 36
VII. MAZDA'S MINISTERING ANGELS / 39
VIII. PRAYERS AND RITUALS / 68
IX. LIFE IS A BLESSING / 75
X. EVIL / 81
XI. LIFE AFTER DEATH / 96
XII. THE FINAL DISPENSATION / 108
THE AVESTAN PERIOD: From about 800 B.C. to about A.D. 200 at the latest
XIII. INDIA LEAVES INDO-IRANIAN RELIGION BEHIND / 115
XIV. IRAN GOES BACK TO INDO-IRANIAN RELIGION / 125
XV. PROMULGATION OF THE FAITH OF ZARATHUSHTRA / 129
XVI. ZARATHUSHTRA IN THE YOUNGER AVESTA / 139
XVII. THE YOUNGER AVESTAN RELIGION / 145
XVIII. THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE MILLENNIUM / 150
XIX. AHURA MAZDA / 125
XX. SPENTA MAINYU / 125
XXI. AMESHA SPENTAS / 162
XXII. YAZATAS / 173
XXIII. FRAVASHIS / 232
XXIV. PERSONIFIED ABSTRACTIONS / 244
XXV. BAGHAS / 246
XXVI. PRAYERS AND RITUALS / 248
XXVII. EVIL / 257
XXVIII. DEATH AND BEYOND / 278
XXIX. THE RENOVATION / 288
THE PAHLAVI PERIOD: From the third to the ninth century
XXX. ZOROASTRIANISM UNDER THE FOREIGN YOKE / 293
XXXI. THE BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY / 298
XXXII. MITHRAISM / 302
XXXIII. ZARATUSHT IN THE PAHLAVI WORKS / 309
XXXIV. ZOROASTRIANISM AS TAUGHT BY THE PAHLAVI WORKS / 318
XXXV. THE ACTIVE PROPAGANDA OF THE FAITH / 325
XXXVI. SECTS / 330
XXXVII. HERESIES / 338
XXXVIII. OHRMAZD / 350
XXXIX. AMSHASPANDS / 357
XL. IZADS / 368
XLI. FAROHARS / 375
XLII. PRAYERS AND RITUALS 379
XLIII. EVIL / 384
XLIV. LIFE AFTER DEATH / 407
XLV. THE RENOVATION / 423
A PERIOD OF DECADENCE: From the seventh to the eighteenth century
XLVI. DOWNFALL OF THE SASANIANS, AND THE AFTERMATH / 437
XLVII. EXODUS TO INDIA / 423
XLVIII. ZARTUSHT DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD / 449
XLIX. PERSIAN WORKS ON ZOROASTRIANISM / 457
L. MYSTICS AND MYSTICISM / 461
LI. RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES / 470
LII. AN EPOCH-MAKING ERA IN THE HISTORY OF ZOROASTRIAN RESEARCHES / 472
LIII. PROSELYTIZING COMES TO BE VIEWED WITH DISFAVOUR / 474
LIV. GUJARATI LITERATURE BEARING UPON ZOROASTRIANISM / 477
A PERIOD OF REVIVAL: Nineteenth century and after
LV. MODERNISM VERSUS TRADITIONALISM / 481
LVI. THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING AMONG THE PARSIS / 483
LVII. INTRODUCTION OF THE WESTERN METHOD OF IRANIAN SCHOLARSHIP IN INDIA / 486
LVIII. CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES ATTACK ZOROASTRIANISM / 491
LIX. THE REFORM MOVEMENT / 495
LX. PARSI THEOSOPHISTS / 502
LXI. CONCLUSION / 509
History of Zoroastrianism
by
Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla
High Priest of the Parsis, Karachi, India
NEW YORK
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON TORONTO,
1938
