Zoroastrianism
FOUNDED: Second millennium B.C.E.
RELIGION AS A PERCENTAGE OF WORLD POPULATION: 0.0023 percent
Overview
Zoroastrianism, established at least 3,000 years ago, is the religion of pre-Islamic Iran. It survives in Iran (where followers are called the Zardushtis) and in India (where they are called the Parsis), as well as in diaspora communities around the world. The term "Zoroastrianism" is derived from the name of the founder, Zoroaster (as he is known in Greek; his Iranian name is Zarathustra). The Fravarane, a confessional text in the ancient Iranian language of Avestan, identifies the religion as the worship of the god Ahura Mazda (Lord Wisdom) according to the teachings of Zarathustra.
In Iran Zoroastrianism traditionally described itself as either the "Good Religion" or as Mazdeanism (from Ahura Mazda). It was the state religion of the two great pre-Islamic Iranian dynasties, the Achaemenids (550–330 B.C.E.) and the Sasanians (224–651 C.E.). After the fall of the Sasanians to the Arab Muslims who conquered Iran, the religion lost its patron but survived in the area. Members also migrated to India. In the modern period they have dispersed throughout the world, though the number of adherents has become infinitesimal; the worldwide population is only about 150,000.
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