Concept
Iranian religions, also known as Persian religions, are, in the context of comparative religion, a grouping of religious movements that originated in the Iranian (Persian) plateau (or Greater Iran). 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. Aryans, or ancient Iranians, worshiped natural elements such as the sun, sunlight and thunder, but they eventually shifted their attention mostly to a single god, whilst acknowledging others. The Iranian ancient prophet, Zoroaster, reformed Iranian religious beliefs to a form of henotheism/monotheism. The Gathas, hymns of Zoroaster's Avesta, brought 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 Aryan beliefs and ideas. Proto-Indo-Iranian religion: The various beliefs and practices from which the later indigenous religion of the Iranian peoples evolved. This religion was also the origin of the Indian religions. Ancient Iranian religion: The ancient religion of the Iranian peoples Scythian religion: The religion of the Scythians and precursor to modern Uatsdin. Some researchers further speculate that Daevas may partly be based on Scythian gods, hence further influences across Iranian religions as a whole. Zoroastrianism: The present-day umbrella term for the indigenous native beliefs and practices of the Iranian peoples. While present-day Zoroastrianism is monolithic, a continuation of the elite form of the Sasanian Empire, in antiquity it had several variants or denominations, differing slightly by location, ethnic affiliation and historical period. It once had large population and high diversity. Zurvanism: By the late Achaemenid Empire, Zoroastrianism was also evident as Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), a monist dualism that had a following as late as the Sasanian Empire.