Navigating Zoroastrian Communal Identity in the Early Islamic Era

On Friday, 28 November, I will be speaking about the Epistles of Manuščihr (881 CE) and their early Islamic context at the Ancient India and Iran Trust.

Navigating Zoroastrian Communal Identity in the Early Islamic Era

Friday 28 November, 5:30pm
Refreshments from 5pm
All welcome

The Abbāsid Caliphate came to power around 750 CE. In 881 CE, the Zoroastrian high priest of Pārs and Kirmān, Manuščihr ī J̌uwānǰamān, wrote three letters addressed to the Zoroastrian community of Sīrgān, his younger brother Zādspram, and the wider Zoroastrian community living under Islamic rule. The main purpose of the epistles is to admonish and discipline Zādspram. Scholars have often assumed that the dispute between the priestly brothers stemmed from Zādspram’s attempts to modify the notoriously complex purification ritual of Baršnūm of Nine Nights. This lecture challenges such interpretations by situating the conflict within the socio-political climate of the early Islamic era. It suggests that Manuščihr’s grave concerns were less about ritual modifications than safeguarding the welfare of a Zoroastrian community pushed to the margins of an increasingly suspicious and paranoid caliphate.

Abstract