Iranian religions
The Iranian religions, also known as the Persian religions, are, in the context of comparative religion, a grouping of religious movements that originated in the Iranian plateau, which accounts for the bulk of what is called "Greater Iran" in West Asia.
For religious demographics in the country of Iran, see Religion in Iran. For the medieval Chinese concept, see Three Persian religions.Background[edit]
The beliefs, activities, and cultural events of the ancient Iranians in ancient Iran are complex matters. The ancient Iranians made references to a combination of several Aryans and non-Aryan tribes. The documented history of Iranian religions begins with Zoroastrianism. The ancient Iranian prophet, Zoroaster, reformed the early beliefs of ancient Iranians, the reconstructed Ancient Iranian religion, into a form of henotheism/monotheism.[1] The Gathas, hymns of Zoroaster's Avesta, introduced monotheistic ideas to Persia, while through the Yashts and Yasna, mentions are made to polytheism and earlier creeds. The Vedas and the Avesta have both served researchers as important resources in discovering early Proto-Indo-Iranian religion[2] beliefs and ideas,[3] the various beliefs and practices from which the later indigenous religion of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan peoples evolved.
Some religionists made syncretic teachings of Islam and local beliefs and cults such as Iranian paganism, Zurvanism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism.[6]
