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Zoroastrianism is still practiced in Iran , India , and by some Iranian Peoples everywhere. INTRODUCTION Zoroastrian areas once stretched from Anatolia as the religion of the Mede in the western part of the Iranian Plateau to the Persian Gulf , and its followers once numbered in the millions. Its followers today, located principally in South Asia and Iran , as well as throughout the Diaspora , number much less, but the religion is alive and dynamic. Many traits of this ancient Iranian religion of Aryan origin, which has strong similarities before its reformation to the Hinduism of Northern India and the Viking or Norse religion in Northern Europe, are present in modern Persian and other Iranian Peoples as well as some Eurasian peoples. Many traits of the Zoroastrian faith are still present in all Iranian peoples' cultures and traditions from the Caucausus to Iran and Central Asia . The origin of the religion is ascribed to the prophet Zarathushtra, who is commonly known in the Western World as Zoroaster , the Greek version of his name. The Etymology of his name is disputed and several different explanations exist. The modern Persian form of the prophet's name is ''Zærtosht'' (زرتشت). Zoroaster came to reform ancient Indo-Iranian religious practices (some of which were parallel to the Vedic Religion of ancient India ). According to different scholarly histories, Zoroaster lived in the eastern part of present Iran or in Bactria . His dates are contested, but were clearly between the 18th and the 11th Centuries BCE (although Plato put Zoroaster in the 64th century BCE). Zoroaster is thought to have composed the '' Gathas '', poems which were assiduously preserved by his followers through centuries of oral transmission, before the whole of the Avesta (in which the ''Gathas'' are a central portion) were committed to writing in the Parthia n or Sassanian periods. The Gathic dialect is similar to the Vedic dialect of the '' Rg Veda '' and thus Zoroaster has sometimes been dated as roughly contemporary to the ''Rg Veda'', normally ascribed to c.1500-1250 BCE. The faith is often claimed to be the earliest Monotheistic religion, since Zoroaster requires devotion to the single God Ahura Mazda. However, Zoroastrianism also has a dualistic nature ( Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu ), with an additional series of six important angel-like entities called the Amesha Spentas . In modern Zoroastrianism they are interpreted as aspects or emanations of Ahura Mazda (the Supreme Being), who form a heptad that is good and constructive. They are opposed to another group of seven who are evil and destructive. It is this persistent conflict between good and evil that distinguishes Zoroastrianism from monotheistic frameworks that have only one power as supreme. By requiring its adherents to have faith and belief in ''equally opposing'' powers Zoroastrianism characterizes itself as dualistic. Zoroastrianism may also be known as Mazdayasna ("Worship of Wisdom") by some of its followers after the Zoroastrian name of God, Ahura Mazda ("Divine Wisdom"). A modern Persian form is ''Behdin'' ("Good Religion/Law," see below for the role of ''daena'' Law). Zoroastrians may refer to themselves as ''Zartoshti'' ("Zoroastrians"), ''Mazdayasni'' ("Wisdom-Worshippers") and ''Behdini'' ("Followers of the Good Religion"), and ''Zarathustrian''. The well preserved ancient writings, in the ancient script has enabled the first European Orientalist s to learn Middle Persian and to use it to rediscover the still more ancient languages of Iran. PRINCIPAL BELIEFS |
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