Replies

Any "accomplishments" are largely the result of exploiting the existing dhimmi Christians, Jews, Zorastrians, etc

While in general agreement with your post, I believe that the Muslims do NOT consider that the Zoroastrians are 'dhimmi', people of the book, mostly because they were not. Zoroastrianism was an entirely separatge pagan religion, founded roughly in the same period as Buddhism, but in the Persian Empire. It was an ethical religion, and some of its beliefs passed into the Roman West, most especially the worship of the lesser Zoroastrian deity, Mithras. The symbol of Mithraism was a Sacred Bull, and that of Zoroastrianism was the fire.

While accepting Christians and Jews as followers of the same God, Islam gave the Zoroastrians the choice of converting or being executed. To this day islam has a horror of the 'fireworshippers'. As a result, not one Zoroastrian remains alive in the Persian homeland. A number of refugees fled to India, where they remain, and are known as 'Farsi', Hindu for a Persian. The Zoroastrians believe in a good creator god 'Ahura Mazda' and a nearly equally powerful evil god 'Ahriman'. They are known to their Hindu neighbors especially for their practices in desposing of the bodies of the dead. Instead of burying or cremating corpses, the Farsi leave the bodies exposed in walled courtyards, set aside for the purpose, where they can be eaten down to the bones by birds and other scavengers. This does not improve their reputation in the areas of India where they reside.

As a result, not one Zoroastrian remains alive in the Persian homeland.

Not true. They are scarce and have suffered much persecution, but they still hold on. About 75,000 live around Yazd and in a few other places in Iran. This is not a whole lot less than the number in India (about 150,000), although in India they are a wealthy and influential group.

While accepting Christians and Jews as followers of the same God, Islam gave the Zoroastrians the choice of converting or being executed. To this day islam has a horror of the 'fireworshippers'. As a result, not one Zoroastrian remains alive in the Persian homeland.

I think for the most part you are correct. They were not people of the book. As usual in Islamic lands however there were some exceptions, including with the people of the book notion such as occurred under the Almohads or other Islamic rulers. Hence, amongst the notables some Zoroastrians were allowed to continue and their related families. Indeed, as noted below, the movement of Zoroastrians to India occurred in the middle of the 10th century and hence they had been living a schizoid existence for over three hundred years under Islamic rule. This is what you also saw in India, Hindus not being people of the book also lived a schizoid existence at times conversion or die and other times as, effectively, dhimmis.

The Parsi Arrival

In the 7th century C.E., the Arabs conquered Iran and many of them settled there and gradually imposed their own religion of Islam. In the early 10th century, a small group of Zoroastrians seeking freedom of worship and economic redress, left Iran and sailed towards the warm shores of Western India. They eventually arrived along the Gujarat coastline in 936 C.E. at a place they named Sanjan, some 180 kms north of Bombay. There they flourished and came to be known as the Parsis (Persians). Over the millenium, a small band of faithful Zoroastrians have continued to live in Iran and have tried to preserve their culture and religious traditions as best as possible.
http://coulomb.ecn.purdue.edu/~bulsara/ZOROASTRIAN/wawz.html

The Zoroastrians believe in a good creator god 'Ahura Mazda' and a nearly equally powerful evil god 'Ahriman'.

I thought they were monotheists.