GENOCIDE OF ZARATUSHTIS (Fariborz Rahnamoon) : http://goo.gl/uIm0O9 Islamic era histroy of Zoroastrians of Iran through political analysis and historical letters (Jahanian, Dr. Daryoush): http://goo.gl/d6FJBA Apart from Jews, which religious group has faced maximum genocide for practising their faith? Undoubtedly Zoroastrianism. While the Jews were massacred outside their homeland after they had chosen to migrate to different places, the Zoroastrians were driven to near extinction within their homeland. In chronological order, this is how they suffered - The Arabs, after destroying the Sassanid empire imposed the worst taxation on them. This was accompanied by several infamous massacres sometimes resulting in the depopulation of entire towns and cities. They burnt down Estakhr which was Zoroastrianism's spiritual capital. They also burned every major library till the point that almost all religious texts were destroyed and the major priests were murdered. The Arabs then settled near theses cities and continued with economic oppression. They slowly began to use this as a means to convert the natives to Islam. The various laws they enacted included inheritance of property by a Muslim in the family, relief from taxation upon conversion and clothing laws. Zoroastrians couldn't raise their head in public while speaking to a Muslim, they had to tie a cloth to their feet while stepping into a Muslim's home, they couldn't pray outside, their children were forcibly snatched away and educated in madrassahs. Next, the Abbasid caliphate came to power with Zoroastrian help and support. They were little better. Their policies included large scale conversion to Islam, finding and destroying Zoroastrian temples that remained. When local Islamic dynasties rose, their kings had Muslim identities. Although they were more lenient than the Arabs, sometimes they went about giving ultimatums to Zoroastrian communities to convert or die. The Seljuk Turks did this a lot. They massacred many Zoroastrians in eastern Iran. The Samamid emperors although Sunni Muslims were lenient to the Zoroastrians. It was under them that the Shahnameh was started. The Arabs of course had massacred the entire population of Sogdia and Khwarazmia which meant that these regions could be resettled by the Turks. So the minor group of Zoroastrians here were more or less subdued. With the Mongol era, everyone in general got massacred and Zoroastrians were no exception. From the start of the Timurid and Safavid eras, the Zoroastrian population was so insignificant that no one cared anymore. Of course, the Qajar dynasty tried its hand at completely annihilating them because of which a second migration wave came to India. Famous massacres - The burning of Ctesiphon. The destruction of Estakhr The blood mill incident - lack of water to drive the mill was compensated by the blood of beheaded Zoroastrians. The invasion of Khwarizm. The Esfahan massacres. The razing of Goyman. Siege of Rayy. Multiple invasions of Mazandaran - the last Zoroastrian enclave in Iran was repeatedly invaded by many Muslim dynasties over the generations and its temples and population were brutally destroyed in many of these invasions. Afshin's massacres following Babak Khorramdin's Zoroastrian resistance movement. Buwayhid reprisals following Mardavij Ziyari's death. Mardavij was Iran's last Zoroastrian ruler. There are so many like this. I have named those which came to mind immediately. The Zoroastrians over the Years were referred to as Gavr - meaning Grave. They were considered lives which were as good as dead. Since they considered dogs and cows sacred, an infamous Islamic era insult against them was deliberately slaughtering these animals. The most modern myths about them include - Zoroastrians have no God. (Ironic, as Muslims created monotheism). They indulge in incest (Next of kin marriage is something even Muslims and many communities practice). They worship the fire of Satan (They bow before the fire the same way Muslims do before a Qibla wall. Are Muslims wall worshippers then?). They don't like to socialize (Try murdering generations of a people for about one and a half millennia and see for yourself how they behave). The tragedy is the fact, that the Jews have a voice on the international stage today in the form of Israel. They got their nation and historical homeland back. The Zoroastrians have neither of these. From what was once the world's largest religion, they've almost gone extinct. http://goo.gl/peSxXG

• published: 15 Jun 2015
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