Zoroastrianism in India

Indian Zoroastrians
Total population
61,000 (2012)[1]
Founder
Zarathustra
Regions with significant populations
All of India, but mostly Gujarat and Maharashtra
Scriptures
Avesta
Languages
Gujarati, Hindi and English[2]

Zoroastrianism in India has significant history within the country. Zoroastrians have lived in the Indian subcontinent since the Sasanian period.[3] The Zoroastrians also moved to India in successive migrations during the Islamic period. The initial migration following the Muslim conquest of Persia has been canonized as a religious persecution by invading Muslims. Zoroastrianism meanwhile suffered a decline in Iran after the conquests. Subsequent migrations also took place after the attempts by Safavids to convert their subjects to Shiism.[4]

Due to persecution of Zoroastrians in other countries and the liberal atmosphere and patronisation of India and the protection provided by Indian rulers, today the largest population of Zoroastrians resides in India, where Zoroastrians have played a notable role in the Indian economy, entertainment, the armed forces, and the Indian freedom movement against the British Raj. The Zoroastrian groups are regarded as either Parsi or Irani depending on the time of migration to India.

  1. ^ Rivetna, Roshan. "The Zoroastrian World A 2012 Demographic Picture" (PDF). Fezana.org.
  2. ^ "Anglicisation of the Parsis". Parsi Khabar. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Continuity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ringer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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