# Zoroastrianism · The Canon · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

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The Canon · No. 013
Zoroastrianism
Mazdayasna; Zarathustrianism; Parsi religion
c.1500–1000 BCE (disputed) – present · Iranian · Living · Iran originally; today India (Parsis), Iran, diaspora
III. THE AXIAL AGE — c.900 – 200 BCE
### How many
### Who began it
### What it is for
### What it worships
### What it holds
### What it does
### After death
### Its texts
### Its branches
### Of note
### Its timeline
- c.1500–1000 BCE Gathas composed (majority current view; a minority still argues for c.600 BCE).
- c.550–330 BCE Achaemenid Persian empire; Darius credits Ahura Mazda by name on the Behistun inscription.
- 539 BCE Cyrus takes Babylon and frees the Judean exiles — the contact point through which Zoroastrian ideas plausibly entered Judaism.
- 330 BCE Alexander burns Persepolis; Zoroastrian tradition calls him Alexander the Accursed for the destruction of texts.
- 224–651 CE Sasanian empire; Zoroastrianism is the state religion and the Avesta is finally written down.
- 651 CE Arab conquest; gradual conversion of Iran to Islam over three to four centuries.
- c.8th–10th c. CE Migration of refugees to Gujarat; they become the Parsis.
- 19th–20th c. Parsi prominence in Indian industry and philanthropy (Tata, Godrej, Wadia) far out of proportion to their numbers.
- Present Declining population; intermarriage and low birth rate, with a live internal dispute over accepting converts.
### Sources
Not yet checked against named sources. This entry is the house's reading; until it is checked, treat each claim as unverified. Correct it, with a source.
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