Avesta, brought monotheistic ideas to
Persia, while through the
Yashts and
Yasna, mentions are made to
polytheism and earlier creeds. The
Vedas and the Avesta have both served researchers as important resources in discovering early Aryan beliefs and ideas.
Antiquity
*
Proto-Indo-Iranian religion: The various beliefs and practices from which the later
indigenous religion
Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being "indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the "world religions" and "new re ...
of the Iranian peoples evolved. This religion was also the origin of the
Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
.
*
Ancient Iranian religion: The ancient religion of the Iranian peoples
**
Scythian religion: The religion of the
Scythians and precursor to modern
Uatsdin. Some researchers further speculate that
Daevas may partly be based on Scythian gods, hence further influences across Iranian religions as a whole.
*
Zoroastrianism: The present-day umbrella term for the indigenous native beliefs and practices of the Iranian peoples. While present-day Zoroastrianism is monolithic, a continuation of the
elite form of the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
, in antiquity it had several variants or denominations, differing slightly by location, ethnic affiliation and historical period. It once had large population and high diversity.
**
Zurvanism: By the late
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
, Zoroastrianism was also evident as Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), a
monist dualism
Dualism most commonly refers to:
* Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another
** ...
that had a following as late as the Sasanian Empire.
**
Mazdakism
Mazdakism was an Iranian religion, which was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism. The religion has been called one of the most noteworthy examples of pre-modern communism.
The religion was founded in the early Sasanian Empire by Zardusht, a Zoroas ...
: A late-5th or early-6th century proto-
socialist gnosticism that sought to do away with
private property
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
.
*
Mithraism
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linke ...
: A mystery religion centred around the proto-Zoroastrian Persian god Mithras that was practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century CE
*
Manichaeism: A 3rd century
ditheistic gnosticism that may have been influenced by Mandaeism. Manichaens believed in a "Father of Greatness" (Aramaic: ''Abbā dəRabbūṯā'', Persian: ''pīd ī wuzurgīh'') and observed Him to be the highest deity (of light).
*
Yazdanism
*
Yazidism
Medieval period
Some religionists made syncretic teachings of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and local beliefs and cults such as
Iranian paganism,
Zurvanism,
Manichaeism and
Zoroastrianism.
The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran: Rural Revolt and Local Zoroastrianism by Patricia Crone (review)
/ref>
* The early Islamic period saw the development of Persian mysticism, a traditional interpretation of existence, life and love with Perso-Islamic Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
monotheism as its practical aspect. This development believed in a direct perception of spiritual truth (God), through mystic practices based on divine love.
* Khurramites, a 9th-century religious and political movement based on the 8th century teachings of Sunpadh
Sunpadh ( fa, سندپاد; also spelled Sunpad and Sunbadh) was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Karen, who incited an uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century.
Background
Sunpadh was a Zoroastrian nobleman, who was a nati ...
, who preached a syncretism of Shia Islam and Zoroastrianism. Under Babak Khorramdin, the movement sought the redistribution of private wealth and the abolition of Islam.
* Behafaridians, an 8th-century cult movement around the prophet Behafarid. Although the movement is considered to have its roots in Zoroastrianism, Behafarid and his followers were executed on charges (made by Zoroastrians) of harm to both Zoroastrianism and Islam.
* Yarsan, a religious order of Yazdanism, which is believed to have been founded in the 16th century. Yazdanism promulgated the belief in a God manifest as one primary and five secondary avatars to form with God the Holy Seven.
Modern
* Assianism/Uatsdin, revival of Ossetian ethnic religion
In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam, in which gaining converts is a pri ...
(see: Ossetian mythology)
* Roshanniya Movement, a set of monotheistic teachings of Pir Roshan which his people followed.
* Bábism, a mid-19th century monotheistic religion founded by the Báb that was a predecessor of the Baháʼí Faith.
* Baháʼí Faith, an emerging monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh, a 19th-century Persian exile.
See also
* Religion of Iranian-Americans
*Dabestan-e Mazaheb
The ''Dabestān-e Mazāheb'' ( fa, دبستان مذاهب) "school of religions" is a Persian language work that examines and compares Abrahamic religions, Dharmic religions and sects of the mid-17th century Southern Eurasia. The work, whose ...
References
Bibliography
* Alessandro Bausani, ''Religion in Iran: From Zoroaster to Bahaullah'', Bibliotheca Persica, 2000
* Richard Foltz, ''Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present'', London: Oneworld, 2013.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iranian Religions
Religions, Iranian
Indo-European religion