1st Edition

The Zoroastrian World

Edited By Jenny Rose, Albert de Jong, Sarah Stewart Copyright 2026
614 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Although Zoroastrians in the contemporary world are numerically few – estimated recently at less than 150,000 across the globe – their ancient Iranian ancestors ruled vast areas of the Near East for over a millennium. From the mid‑sixth century BCE to the mid‑seventh century CE, the historical contribution of the ‘Mazda-worshipping’ religion to the intellectual, cultural, and political... Read more

Introduction

Jenny Rose, Albert de Jong, and Sarah Stewart

Part 1.  Imagining Zoroastrianism

1. How Zoroastrianism imagined itself

Albert de Jong

2. Recasting Zoroastrian dualism within the Greek philosophical imagination

Maria Cristina Mennuti

3. Imagining Zoroastrianism in the light of the Maga Brahmanas and the Kambojas

Antonio Panaino

4. Zoroastrianism in the Chinese imagination

Jeffrey Kotyk

5. Zoroastrianism/Persian religion in the Hebrew Bible

Jason M. Silverman

6. Zoroastrianism in the Babylonian Talmud

Geoffrey Herman

7. Manichaean, Christian, and Mandaean Views of Zoroastrianism

Jason D. BeDuhn and Paul C. Dilley

8. Zoroastrianism in early Arabic sources

Kayla Dang

9. The European ‘rediscovery’ of the Ancient Persians and their worldview

Olivia Ramble

10. The history of the study of Zoroastrianism

Albert de Jong

11. Zoroastrianism and Freemasonry in colonial-era India and Britain: imagining Zoroastrianism and re-imagining Freemasonry

Simon Deschamps

12. A ‘Persian history’? Achaemenid history and Zoroastrian reception in Gore Vidal’s Creation

Charlotte Howley

13. The fascination of the flame: Zoroastrianism and tourism

Jenny Rose and Sarah Stewart

 

Part 2. The Developing Zoroastrian World

HISTORY

14. Imagining Ahura Mazda: the earliest form of Zoroastrianism

Almut Hintze

15. Persian religion in the Achaemenid Empire

Amirardalan Emami

16. Zoroastrianism in the religious context of the Arsacid Empire

Lucinda Dirven

17. Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian Empire

Albert de Jong

18. Zoroastrianism in Iran from the Arab conquests to the mid-nineteenth century

Kiyan Foroutan

19. Zoroastrianism in India: from the migrations of the Parsis to the late eighteenth century

Shervin Farridnejad

SOURCES

20. The developing Zoroastrian world and orality

Philip G. Kreyenbroek

21. The oldest sources for Zoroastrianism: Avestan and Old Persian

Amir Ahmadi

22. “A jewel of wisdom literature in the Pahlavi tradition of Zoroastrianism” 

Alan Williams

23. The meaning of Persian Zoroastrian literature

Albert de Jong

24. A historical overview of Parsi writing in Gujarati

Meher Mistry

25. Zoroastrian literature in English from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries

Jenny Rose

MATERIAL EVIDENCE

26. Central Asian expressions of Zoroastrianism

Michael Shenkar

27. Central Asian Zoroastrianism: can a case be made for Sogdiana?

Pavel Lurje and Kersi B. Shroff

28. Zoroastrianism in Anatolia and the Caucasus

Matthew P. Canepa

29. The ‘fire-worshippers’ of Georgia

Sarah Stewart

Part 3. Living Realities: Zoroastrian Narrative and Symbol in the Modern World

30. The role of Parsi Zoroastrians in the evolution of British colonial India

Omar Ralph

31. Zoroastrian politics in the era of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran (1905-1911)

Janet Kestenberg Amighi

19. Reconciling Persianate and Western forms of knowledge: esotericism as Zoroastrian hermeneutics in colonial India

Mariano Errichiello

20. Calling on divine help: Parsi religious expressions in Mumbai, Navsari, and Surat

Khojeste P. Mistree

ZOROASTRIAN COMMUNITIES IN DIASPORA

34. Zoroastrian communities outside India and Iran

Rashna Writer

35. A personal account of migrating to North America

Tanya Hoshi

36. Teach your children well: Zoroastrian religious education

Jenny Rose and Sarah Stewart

DIGITAL APPROACHES TO ZOROASTRIANISM

37. The use of digital resources in studying the Zoroastrian religion

Edward N. Surman

38. Digital projects in Zoroastrianism

Céline Redard

39. The impact of the digital world on internal Zoroastrian discourse

Nazneen Engineer

Part 4. Contemporary Challenges in the Zoroastrian World

INTERNAL CHALLENGES

40. Demographic issues and identity in twenty-first-century India: Jiyo Parsi

Shernaz Cama

41. The reverberations of the dokhmenashini debate in Mumbai and Zoroastrian death rituals practiced in India

Dorothea Lüddeckens and Ramiyar Karanjia

PERSPECTIVES ON THE ZOROASTRIAN PRIESTHOOD

42. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood in India

Kerman Daruwalla

43. Perspectives on the Zoroastrian priesthood in Iran

Mobed Ramin Shahzadi and Mobedyar Parva Namiranian

44. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood from the UK: an interview with Ervad Yazad T. Bhadha

Sarah Stewart

45. Perspectives on the Parsi priesthood from the United States: an interview with Zerkxis Bhandara

Sarah Stewart

46. Who speaks for Zoroastrianism today?

Ruzbeh Hodiwala

THE CHANGING ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN

47. The changing roles of men and women within the Iranian Zoroastrian community

Shahin Bekhradnia

48. The changing roles of Parsi men and women in India

Nazneen Engineer

49. Care for the Zoroastrian elderly in India

Dinshaw K. Tamboly

50. A caring model for the elderly in the UK

Zubin Sethna and Rozy Contractor

EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

51. Zoroastrianism and human rights

Niaz Kasravi

52. Zoroastrianism and the environment: reviving the forests of Doongerwadi in Mumbai, India

Rashneh N. Pardiwala

53. Zoroastrian approaches to business ethics and sustainable development in contemporary times

Edul Daver

 

Part 5. Creative Contributions from the Zoroastrian World

54. ‘First Darling of the Morning’: an interview with Parsi novelist, Thrity Umrigar

Jenny Rose

55. A larger laughter: the unique legacy of Parsi theatre

Meher Marfatia

56. The house of song

Raiomond Mirza

57. Devotional poetry and songs of the Zoroastrians of Iran

Farzaneh Goshtasb

58. “I yam what I yam”: a conversation with screenwriter, director and photographer, Sooni Taraporevala

Jenny Rose

59. The Garden of the Universe: an interview with artist Hormazd Narielwalla

Sarah Stewart

60. Identity and silk: the emergence and re-emergence of Sino-Parsi trade textiles

Firoza Punthakey Mistree

61. “You have to crack a few eggs to make a Parsi omelette”: an interview with chef and culinary author, Farokh Talati

Jenny Rose

62. Memories of growing up in Iran, Persian food, Zoroastrian festivals, and life as an author and cookery writer: an interview with Shirin Simmons

Sarah Stewart

63. How Parsis helped make India a cricketing nation

Mihir Bose

Biography

Jenny Rose is a Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University, where she taught classes in Zoroastrian Studies before relocating to the UK in 2023. Her books relating to the Zoroastrian world include Zoroastrianism: An Introduction (2011), Zoroastrianism: A Guide for the Perplexed (2011), and Between Boston and Bombay: Cultural and Commercial Connections of Yankees and Parsis, 1771–1865 (2019).

Albert de Jong is Professor of the Study of Religion at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. He mainly works on Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, the Mandaeans, and the Roman cult of Mithras.

Sarah Stewart is a Reader Emeritus at SOAS, University of London. She studied at ANU and SOAS before going on to teach in the Department of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS. She was a Curator of the exhibition The Everlasting Flame, Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination (Brunei Gallery, London 2013; National Museum, Delhi 2016) and Co-Founder of the SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute for Zoroastrian Studies (SSPIZS) in 2017. Her publications include Voices from Zoroastrian Iran, Vols. 1 and 2 (2018, 2020).