Persecution of Zoroastrians
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| Religious discrimination and persecution |
|---|
| By victimized group
Anti-clericalism |
| By method
Abuse · Censorship · Desecration |
| Historical events
Inquisition · French Wars of Religion |
Zoroastrians have faced much religious discrimination including forced conversions, harassments, as well as being identified as najis and impure to some groups of Muslims, while they are originally recognized as Ahle Kitab, (People of the Book; along with Christians and Jews) who have a holy scripture, as they believe in one God and His prophet, Zarathushtra (Grk:Zoroaster). These persistent persecutions have overall resulted in the ruling class Zoroastrian community which had much influence over the pre-Islamic era Persian empires to become one of the smallest religious minorities in the world.
Islamic persecution of Zoroastrianism was rampant in the decades after the Muslim conquest. Many were forced to convert to Islam mainly by force or by attritional methods. The purpose was to establish a Muslim based Arab-centric state within Iran, as Zoroastrianism was associated with the original Persian inhabitants of the Iranian world.
Persecution of Zoroastrians have mainly taken place in their own homeland Persia, modern day Iran.[1] The history of persecution of Zoroastrians started from the Arab conquest of Persia and fall of the Sassanid Empire.
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[edit] Jizya
Before the Arab conquest, Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Sassanid Persia and Zoroastrians faced little or no persecution. However, after the fall of the Sassanid empire, Zoroastrians faced various forms of persecution. This led to the decline of Zoroastrianism as Persians gradually converted to Islam.
After the Arab conquest of Persia, the Arabs took over the Sassanian tax system and introduced the Jizya, a special tax for non-Muslims. Muslims are obliged to spend a certain amount of their wealth or money for the welfare of the society, through Khums and Zakat (two Islamic economic rules) normally paid to the government or the religious leader. In Islamic theory, because non-Muslims do not contribute to the society through Khums and Zakat, they should pay their share in the form of Jizya. By paying the Jizya they accept the social system and the Islamic state is obligated to protect them as its citizens. [2]
| “ | "If a province or people receive you, make an agreement with them and keep your promise. Let them be governed by their laws and established customs, and take tribute from them as is agreed between you. Leave them in their religion and their land."[3] Caliph Abu Bakr |
” |
The Jizya was finally abolished in 1882, over 1200 years after it was first imposed on Zoroastrians in Iran. This came about after an effort by Maneckji Limji Hataria who was sent by the Society for the Amelioration of the Conditions of the Zoroastrians in Persia which was established in 1850s in Bombay by son of an Iranian-Parsi couple.[2]
[edit] Migrations
In order to escape religious discrimination and save their religion and culture, there have been at least two major waves of migration of Persian Zoroastrians from their original home land, Persia (modern day Iran) to India.
The first major wave of migration of Zoroastrian Persians from Iran was in the seventh century. The migration by founding fathers of the current Parsi community in India, took place from Khorasan. They travelled to the port of Hormuzd on the Persian Gulf where according to Parsi traditions they travelled to island of Div (Diu) near the coast of Kathiawar, where they stayed for 19 years before going to Gujarat where major Parsi communities are found today.[2]
[edit] Qissa-i Sanjan
According to the Qissa-i Sanjan "Story of Sanjan", the only existing account of the early years of Zoroastrian refugees in India and composed at least six centuries after the tentative date of arrival, the immigrants originated from Khorasan. After arrival, they were granted asylum by the local ruler Jadi Rana on the condition that:
- They adopt the local language (Gujarati)
- Their women adopt local dress (the Sari)
- They henceforth cease to bear arms.[4]
- They only get married after sunset
The refugees accepted the conditions and founded the settlement of Sanjan, which is said to have been named after the city of their origin (Sanjan, near Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan). In addition to the Khorasanis or Kohistanis (mountain folk, as the Sanjan group was initially called), other groups also migrated to India, at least one of which is known to have come overland from Sari (in present-day Mazandaran, Iran). This latter group would subsequently found the Indian city of Navsari[citation needed].
Although the Sanjan group are believed to have been the first permanent settlers, the precise date of their arrival is a matter of conjecture. All estimates are based on the Qissa, which is vague or contradictory with respect to some elapsed periods. Consequently, three possible dates - 936 CE, 765 CE and 716 CE - have been proposed as the year of landing, and the disagreement has been the cause of "many an intense battle ... amongst Parsis".[5]
[edit] Mongol invasion
The Mongol invasion of Persia was devastating for all communities as the death toll was huge. A number of books, including every copy of the Sassanian Avesta, were destroyed. Most major fire temples were probably demolished at that time. Cities that escaped the worst of the destruction were the in the region of the oasis cities of Pars including Yazd and Kerman where even today the major Iranian Zoroastrian communities are found.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Malcolm Minoo Deboo (2002), Seth Maneckji Limji Hataria: The Martin Luther King of Zoroastrianism & The Struggle for Zoroastrian Civil Rights in Iran
- ^ a b c d Mary Boyce, "Zoroastrians, Their Religious Beliefs and Practices": Under the Caliphs (2001)
- ^ Tritton, A.R, The Caliphs and their non-Muslim Subjects: a Critical Study of the Covenant of Umar (1930). cit. 137
- ^ Shahpurshah Hormasji Hodivala, Studies in Parsi History (Bombay, 1920, pp. 94-117.)
- ^ S. Taraporevala, Zoroastrians of India (Parsis: A Photographic Journey), (2000).
