Altars, Precincts, and Temples: Medieval and Modern Zoroastrian Praxis Author(s): Jamsheed K. Choksy Source: Iran , 2006 , Vol. 44 (2006), pp. 327-346 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300716 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Iran This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS By Jamsheed K. Choksy Indiana University There has been constant scholarly discussion over the years about fires, fire altars, fire precincts and fire temples in ancient Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism (see Choksy 2007). Far less attention has been paid to those ritual objects and locales during medieval and modem times when Zoroastrianism became a minority faith. This article examines why and how the ritual settings for holy fires have endured and changed among Zoroastrians. The fire temples of the Parsis of the Indian subcontinent are much better known to scholars (for example see Boyd and Kotwal 1983; Dastur and Mistree 2002; Kotwal 1974; Kotwal and Boyd 1991; Modi 1937; notable exceptions are Boyce 1966, 1968, 1977; Langer 2004). So the textual and visual data in this article will focus more on situations in medieval and modem Iran and in contemporary diaspora communities in the West. TERMINOLOGY, RITUAL OBJECTS, AND DEVOTIONAL LOCATIONS A Zoroastrian phrase, still used in New Persian, dtashgdh (also pronounced ateshgdh) derives from Middle Persian or Pahlavi atakhshgdh, reflecting an Old Persian and Avestan nominative singular atarsh, "fire", plus Old Persian gdthu and Avestan gdtu, gdtav, "place, space", from Indo-European *gwa-, "to come, base" (Watkins 2000: 33). The Avestan and Old Persian term atar- also produced the Middle Persian and New Persian word dtur or ddur, "fire", the Parthian form dtar (later dar) which is still utilised in Iranian dialects (occasion- ally as adar), and came to be pronounced as dzar (occa- sionally as azar) after the Arab Muslim conquest of Iran during the seventh century. Consequently dturgdh, dtargdh, ddurgdh, ddargdh and dzargdh all have been used to denote places or precincts in which such fires burn on fire altars or in fire pits (contra Boyce 1989b: 7, who equates these terms with dtashddn on which see below). A fire that bums in an dtashgdh is regarded as spindg, from Old Iranian *spanta- and Indo-European *kwen-, "holy", and utilised for Mazdean or Zoroastrian rituals. It did not and does not, however, have to be constantly-burning fire, or have to be one of the highes ritual rank, nor be tended solely by the Zoroastrian mdbeddn (from Old Persian magupati, Middle Persian mowbeddn), "magi", or clergy. In practice, an atashgdh did not have to be an enclosed building but could even be an outdoor fire precinct--as is demonstrated by archeological remains from various periods of Iranian history (Chosky 2007). Its ritual layout thus broadly parallels those of the urwisgdh, "place of the ritua table", or yazishngdh, "place of the rituals for worship", where magi perform high liturgies inside fire temples, and the barashni7mgdh, "place of purification", which used to be located on the outskirts of towns until premodemrn times, after which those places came to be built adjacent to, and connected with, fire temples so that priests would not have to mingle with nonbelievers after purificatory rituals. So dtashgdh, urwisgdh, yazishngdh and barashnumgdh, although having functional differences, share structural parallels as places separated from the surroundings and made pure for religious purposes (Choksy 2003). Another term used in conjunction with dtashgdh is New Persian itashkada (also pronounced cteshkade), "room of the fire, house of the fire", commonly translated as "fire temple", deriving from Middle Persian dtakhshkadag and kadag datakhsh, originating from Old Persian and Avestan atarsh plus Old Persian *katha and Avestan kata "room, small house". Late Sasanian period and early Muslim period, hence sixth through twelfth century, Zoroastrian texts in Pahlavi preserve the altemrnate terms mdn i dtakhsh and khjnag I atakhsh denoting "house of the fire, residence of the fire, fire temple", the latter term yielding the New Persian words dtashkhdna (also pronounced dteshkhdne) and atashkhdn (also pronounced ateshkhdn) (Boyce 1989c: 9). Usage indicates these terms have consistently been utilised to denote a building housing one or more holy fires within enclosed precincts, and so with very few exceptions they should be translated as "fire temple" (contra Boyce 1989a: 2; 1989c: 9). This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 328 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES By the fifteenth century as attested in the Persia Revdyats, "Treatises" (written 1478-1773) (2.18), Zoroastrians in Iran were using the phrases dar-e mehr and dar be-mehr both meaning "court of Mithra". These probably derive from Old Iranian *maithrydna or *mithradana, rendered as mithraion in an Egyptian papyrus record from the third century B.C. and later as the Armenian word mehean, "place of Mithra, temple", and serve as equivalents in common parlance for the technical terms for fire temples-i.e., for the buildings that house holy fires within enclosed precincts (Russell 1987: 263 with references; Boyce 1993). Mithra (later Mihr, Mehr) as the Indo-Iranian and, later, Zoroastrian divinity of contracts and covenants was believed to traverse the sky "in front of the immortal, swift stallioned sun" with "the radiant fire of liturgical glory before him" (Yasht, "Devotional Poem" 10.13, 10.127). So that spirit's association, through name and site, with the fires in the presence of which Zoroastrians-clergy and laity alike-perform devotions directed at Ahura Mazda (Ahura Mazda, later Ohrmazd) and lesser divine spirits fit the faith's religiosity (compare Russell 1987: 262, 265-66). Indeed, even in the ninth century, the magus Zadspram had employed the term dar to refer to the court of the fire temple (Wizidagihd 29.4). Authors of the Persian Revdyats (1.230) used another portion of the phrase, mehr, to denote the fire temple. The phrases dar-i mehr and dar be-mehr are still popular among Zoroastrians in Iran, India, and even the United States of America and Canada, for referring to their current, functional, fire temples. Yet another word for a fire temple building, namely agiari, commonly rendered as agiary, arose among the Parsis of India through the translation of dtashkada into the Gujarati language in premodemrn times. Within an dtashgdh or dtashkada, the fire itself was placed on a concave brazier in a receptacle. That vessel has consistently been designated in New Persian as an dtashddn, usually translated as "fire altar" (which will be used in this discussion), less commonly as "fire holder", from Middle Persian dtakhshdan and Parthian *dtardshan preserved in Armenian as atrushan (Boyce 1975: 456; 1989b). The term reflects an Old Persian and Avestan nominative singular dtarsh plus stdna, "place". Thus dtashddn may best be translated as "fire stand" since Indo-European *sta-, "to stand", yielded both stdna and its cognate stand (compare Watkins 2000: 84). By premodern times, the phrase takht-e dtash was being employed as a euphemism for the altar on which a fire was said to be takht-neshast, "enthroned". Contemporary Zoroastrians in the Yazd region of Iran now substitute the Dari word kalak, "clay altar", for dtashddn because fire altars were often made from baked clay, although stone also was used in ancient to medieval times and metal became popular from premodern times onward. Zoroastrians in the Kerman region now frequently utilise the word maghreb borrowed from Muslim piety (where it denotes the western direction of the evening prayer performed at sunset) for a fire altar, preserving the notion that an altar and the fire on it form an icon via which worship is directed to the creator deity Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrian books in Middle Persian also mention the adisht, "place of fire", originally the "domestic hearth", but now pronounced ddosht or adhokhsh and used in reference to the fire altar in the Dari spoken by contem- porary Zoroastrians of Iran (Boyce 1989b: 7). The Parsis call the fire holder an dfrinagdnyu or afargdnyu, "place for blessings", based on a loan word from New Persian into Gujarati. The Yasna (17.11) mentions a five-tiered spiritual ranking of holy fires (see further Boyce 1989a: 3) which may have been incorporated into that scripture by the Parthian or Arsacid period (238 B.C.-224 A.D.). The ridivddd, "Code to Ward Off Evil Spirits" (8.81-96), a Young Avestan text codified during Achaernenian times provides the first scriptural reference to creation of a holy fire of the highest ritual grade-possibly termed *dtar varathraghan, "victorious fire", in Old Persian, definitely attested as adar warahran in Parthian and dtakhsh wahrdm in Middle Persian, and called New Persian and Parsi Gujarati dtash bahrdm, "fire of Verethraghna (Vorathraghna) or Wahram" the yazata of victory-within an daitydgatu, called dddgdh in Middle Persian, "fixed place or appropriate precinct", which apparently was another term for an dtarshgdtu, by purification and fusion of flames that previously had been used for sixteen different functions. The same text noted that holy fires should be kept free from impurities, tended with care, and that magi should perform all such rites while wearing a paitidana (later rendered as Parthian *patam, Middle Persian paddm, New Persian pandm, Parsi Gujarati padan), "mouth and nose mask", so as not to pollute the flames with breath (Vidcvddd 8.73-74, 18.1; see further Choksy 1989: 84-85 with fig. 12). That practice was commented on by Strabo (c. 64 B.C.-25 A.D.) who noted magi avoided their breath blowing over holy fires (Geography 15.3.14). In the same passage, Strabo observed that "they make This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS 329 offerings to fire by adding dry wood without bark and by placing fat on top of it". A stone panel from the temple complex for Ahura Mazda, Mithra and Anahita at Bard-e Neshanda in Khuzestan, dating after 140 B.C., depicts a magus wearing a *patam while pouring an offering into the flame of a small *jtardshan (Schippmann 1971: 251-58 with fig. 37; Kawami 1987: 182-83 with pl. 26; in general Godard 1949). Ritual grades of fire seem to have been standardised by the Sasanian magi (Schippmann 1971: 510-13; Vitalone 2004: 425), and those ranks are still retained by Zoroastrians. At the beginning of the Sasanian period, distinction existed between flames ofadtakhsh wahram or adur i wahrdm rank and fires called ddurcn-which may reflect the second grade of ritual fire (with hearth fires being unmentioned) or else simply denoting all other holy fires tended by magi-both within Iran and outside its borders. These types of holy fires were mentioned by the third century high magus Kirdir (Sar Mashhad inscription 3, 17, Naqsh-e Rostam inscription 5, 12, 18, 34, 44, Ka 'ba-ye Zardosht inscription 2, 5, 6-7, 11, 13, 14, 15, and Naqsh-e Rajab inscription 23). By late Sasanian times there clearly was a secondary grade of ritual flame known as dtakhsh adardn, "fire of fires", or simply Jdaran, and eventually a tertiary ritual grade called adurog i dddgdh, "small fire in a fixed place", or simply dddgdh. Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 325-395 C.E.), among other classical authors, noted that magi tended ever-burning fires (History 23.6.34). Yet only &takhsh wahrim had to burn constantly according to religious stipulation. Flames of the ddaran and dadgdh ritual grades could and would periodically be allowed to burn out (see also Boyce 1975: 462-63; 1979: 110). TRANSFORMATION AND CONTINUITY IN MEDIEVAL TIMES When Zoroastrians in Iran began to adopt other faiths, dtashgdh and dtashkada became symbols of the old order that had to be changed. The first signs of transfor- mation were seen in Armenia where Zoroastrian fire precincts were transformed into churches at locales like Ejmiacin and Dvin as residents converted to Christianity after the year 300 (Russell 1987: 486-90; Choksy 1997: 70). In Sasanian Iran itself, converts to Nestorianism deliberately extinguished holy fires on occasion, while refusing to return to Zoroastrianism-resulting in their martyrdom at the hands of magi as documented in the Syriac martyrologies (Choksy 2002: 87, 92 with references). Stepped dtashddn (i.e., ones with broad, stepped, tops bearing shallow hemispherical fire bowls or braziers) may have been converted into altars for crosses as evidenced by stamp seals (Brunner 1978: 120-21 with fig. 139; Gignoux and Gyselen 1982: 40 with pl. 3.10.17). The situation gained momentum after the Arab Muslim conquest (seventh century) of Iran as urban Iranians adopted Islam between the eighth through tenth centuries and that faith spread among rural folk from the tenth through thirteenth centuries (Choksy 1997: 106-9). Though some continued to function after the fourteenth century (Tirmidhi 1950), most fire precincts and temples eventually were either transformed into mosques, destroyed, or abandoned. During Sasanian times (224-651), the chahdr t0q, "four arches" style- technically four columns supporting a gumbad, "domed roof' (a term which eventually came to serve as a alternate for chahdr tdq), and forming a hall or portico whose four sides were open, yet often surrounded by ambulatory corridors and other roofed ritual precincts, storage rooms, and congregational halls-had become the quintessential architectural form for an ctakhshgdh or fire precinct (see also Schippmann 1971: 504-6; Boyce 1975: 464). The chahdr tdq style with its domed roof passed into Muslim religious architecture with domed mosques eventually replacing hypostyle ones. It may also have influenced representations of the mehrdb, "prayer niche" (Melikian-Chirvani 1990). When a holy fire died out, its extinguishment was euphemistically referred to as going "to sleep" (khuftan). Often as Muslims restored the buildings, Sasanian period infra- structure was covered over with newer bricks and tiles- and can still be glimpsed at these sites such as the masjed-e jdme' at Isfahan when modem renovations require removal of early Islamic overlays. With some exceptions that will be noted, most trans- formations during the early Islamic period seem to have occurred peacefully as votaries switched to Islam and remodelled their places of worship to suit new beliefs and praxes-a situation also known from the Islamisation of the Christian Middle East (Choksy 1997: 96, 98). Moreover, as settlements lost residents' confes- sional alliance to Islam, there was gradual diminishment in contributions to the pious foundations that supported the dtashkada which, consequently, often fell into disrepair. Muslim authorities capitalised on those conditions by restricting repairs even if funds became available-thereby hastening the ruin of Zoroastrian This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 330 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES Fig. 1. Seljuk Madrasa bu Zoroastrian fire temple, fires temples (Choksy 1997: 98-99). A few example different provinces of Iran and from various tim be cited as pertinent evidence. The masjed-e jdme' at the city of Urmiya Azerbaijan appears to have been built over an exist chahar taq in the thirteenth century (Matheson 197 The massive fire temple of Adur Gushnasp at Tak Sulayman closed sometime in the tenth century, pro from a dearth of votaries to support its functions, an then utilised by Muslims of different ethnic backgrounds-including the Mongols-for religious and secular purposes (Osten and Naumann 1961: 64; Choksy 1997: 99). One abandoned late medieval or early premodern atashgih may have been at Dar-e Shahr in Lurestan (compare Vanden Berghe 1979: 128-29). A twelfth century Seljuk, theological college known as the madrasa-ye Hayd-iriya (Fig. 1) in the eastern quarter of the Qazvin city, is still known as the itashkada from which the Muslim institution of learning was constructed (Matheson 1979: 55). Likewise the Seljuk masjed-e jdme', "congregational mosque", at Qazvin stands over the foundations of another dtashkada. The fire temple dedicated to Anahita at Kangavar (Concobar) had fallen into disuse, been abandoned by Zoroastrians, and became a brigand hideout by the early thirteenth century (according to the Arab author Yiqiit who wrote about the site between 1212-1229). An dtashkada serving the town of Farahan, between Qum and Hamadan, had its fire extinguished on orders of a Muslim Turkish governor in 895. Another dtashkada at the village of Mazdijan, near Qum, was demolished by the same governor in 901 (Choksy 1997: 97). The main fire temple at Yazd in central Iran was torn down and a masjed-ejame' erected in 1119 (Matheson 1979: 178). The same occurred at the town of Yazd-e Khast (Matheson 1979: 180-81). The 'Abbasid period (750-1258) hypostyle masjed, "mosque", at Na'in (Fig. 2) also originated from an itashkada. Fig. 2. Abbasid Mosque built on site ofZoroastrian fire temple and renovated by Seljuks, Na'in. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS 331 The dtashgdh of one of the fire temples at Isfahan became the mehrdb room of that city's 'Abbasid congre- gational mosque in the eighth century and was eventually renovated by the Seljuks in the eleventh century (Godard 1937: 20, 170; Shokoohy 1985: 546; Choksy 1997: 98). The other ctashkada at the pinnacle of the citadel functioned into the tenth century (Ibn Rusta, Kitdb al- a'ldq al-nafisa, 153), before being abandoned and eventually reused as a watch tower by the Mongols three hundred years later (Siroux 1965; Barthold 1984: 154-55). The masjed-e birun, "outer mosque", at the town of Abarkuh in central Iran also dates to the ninth century and represents the restructuring of an original fire temple (Godard 1938b; Shokoohy 1985: 562 with pls. 23-28; Choksy 1997: 97). The masjed-e jdme'at the town of Aqda developed from a fire temple there in the eleventh or twelfth century (Shokoohy 1985: 567 with pls. 30-33; Choksy 1997: 97-98). The masjed-ejdme'at Natanz was constructed within the perimeter of a Sasanian fire temple during the early fourteenth century (Godard 1936: 82-103; Matheson 1979: 172). The Seljuk period masjed-ejdme', where a stucco inscription dates to 1136 at the town of Zavara reflects the architec- tural incorporation of a chahdr tdq (Matheson 1979: 172-73). The chahdr tdq at Ardestan, also, was incorpo- rated into the mehrib room of a masjed-ejdme' prior to the eleventh century (Matheson 1979: 174). The Sasanian family's fire temple ofAdur Anahid at Istakhr was transformed into the masjed-e Sulayman shortly after that city's conquest in 649. Bull capitals symbolising Verethraghna which once decorated columns of the fire temple continued to grace the hypostyle mosque (al-Mas'tidi, Murtj al-dhahab wa ma 'ddin al-jawhar, 4.76-77; see also Choksy 1997: 95, 97). The holy fire of that royal family was safeguarded by magi, however, and continued to burn in a smaller temple at Istakhr. The temple of Adur Farrobay was razed in 670 on the orders of the Umayyad governor of Iraq (Choksy 1997: 97 with references). The flame, however, had been divided by magi into two portions hidden to safeguard against extinguishment by Arab Muslims. One portion eventually was re-established at Kariyan while the other would be placed on an dtashdan at Fasa (Ibn al-Faqih, Kitdb al-buldan, 246-47). According to tradition, the Zoroastrian dastur dasturdn, "high priest of priests", moved to the central Iranian village of Torkabad north of Yazd in the twelfth century (and then to Yazd itself in the eighteenth century). Adur Farrdbay and Adur Anahid, were relocated to the nearby village of Sharifabad in 1174 to burn inconspicuously within side chambers of mudbrick atashgdh, safe from extinguishment by zealous Muslims (Boyce 1977: 2-6; 1989a: 5; 1989c: 10, who dates the relocations to slightly later). How and why the temple complex for Anahita at Bishapur with its urwisgah and dtakhshgdh for water and fire ceased functioning is not fully clear. But the site was reused by Muslims and the fire altar's stepped base was incorporated into a medieval building's wall (Girshman 1954: 323-24 with pl. 41c, 1962: 149-51). The Muslim city of Shiraz had three itashkada built by Zoroastrians who moved to that locale when Qasr-e Abu Nasr began to decline. The two fire temples inside the city's walls and the one at a city gate seem to have outlasted the turmoil of Zoroastrian uprisings there in the ninth and tenth centuries and functioned into the fourteenth century, for that city's magi were extolled by the poets Sa'di (c. 1200-92) and Hafez (1326-89) (Barthold 1984: 155; Choksy 1997: 38, 134 with references). A Parthian period fire temple, with Achaemenian antecedents, restored during Sasanian times, was used as a mosque and Muslim burial ground after Arabs captured the city of Kermanshah (FEZANA Journal 18, 4, 2005: 30 with photograph). By the hill near the town of Nowdaran stand the remains of a small chahar tdq (Matheson 1979: 256 with references) renovated and adapted for Muslim worship during the Safavid period (1501-1722). On Khark island in the Persian Gulf an itakhshkadag, dating from the early fourth century, was turned into a mosque during the first centuries of Arab Muslim rule (Matheson 1979: 246). The ayvin or iwdn, "barrel vaulted", masjed-e jdme' at Neyriz, bearing a mehrab inscription dating to 973 began in 951 on the site of a Sasanian fire temple as well. The itashkada at Kerman city was changed into a masjed-e jame' in 651 (Vaziri Kermani, Tcrikh-e Kerman, 31). The highest point of the citadel of Bam (Fig. 3, badly damaged by an earthquake in December 2003) appears to have been the location of a Sasanian chahar tdq atakhshgdh and dtakhshkadag upon which a Safavid chahdr fasl, "open four cornered building", was built with a watchtower (Bastani-Parizi 1989: 651). The temple site of Adur Kark0y, taken by Arab Muslim soldiers in 651 under a local treaty, continued to be served by magi into the eleventh century when its flame and altar were commented upon (TIrikh-e Sistan, written c. 1062, 36-37, 299). It was eventually transformed into a mosque some time after being abandoned as an This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 332 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES Fig. 3. Safavid building Zoroastrian fire temple, itashkada in the thirteenth century (Choksy 1997: 24 101; contra Boyce 1979: 162, where she suggests it wa demolished by the Mongols). The large temple comple at Kuh-e Khwaja shows limited evidence of Zoroastria activity there after c. 700 (Ghanimati 2000: 145; 2001 146), and its outskirts eventually became the burial s of a Muslim saint. The town of Forumad, west of Sabzevar in Khurasan, possesses a Seljuk period (1037-1157) mosque thought to have been built over an itashkada (Matheson 1979: 198, 298). At Nishapur, Arab Muslim troops demolished the main dtashkada and erected the masjed-ejdme'al-'atiq, "old congregational mosque", in its place around the year 651 (The Histories of Nishapur 66b; see further Choksy 1997: 101, 152 n. 37). A congregational mosque may have been built over a fire temple at Bukhara in 713 by its Arab Muslim conquerors. Another two mosques followed the same pattern of assimilating Zoroastrian religious sites in the ninth century. Yet, other fire temples continued to function in Bukhara, its suburb of Tawais and the village of Ramush, into the tenth century with the financial support of Zoroastrians there (Narshakhi, Tarikh-e Bokhard, 23, 29-30, 43, 67-69; see further Choksy 1997: 104-5). In the Wakham and Pamir regions (now in northeastern Afghanistan and Tajikistan), Zoroastrians and their fire rites seem to have lasted until the region fell under the control of the emirate of Bukhara and its Sunni rulers in 1898 (Olufsen 1904: 205-06; Scott 1984: 217, 220). Adardn and dddgdh fires remained fairly numerous in western, central and southern Iran-especially in Zoroastrian villages around the Yazd plain and Kerman city-during the late Middle Ages (Boyce 1989a: 5). Many of those had rectangular or barrel vaulted double roofs with small angular smoke holes and pebble paved floors (Boyce 1989c: 10). Zur-e dtash, "ritual offerings for fire", of animal flesh and fat were still being made during the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries (Persian Revdyats 1.74-76, 1.161-70, 1.261, 1.262, 1.264, 1.307, 2.12, 2.70). Yet, from the beginning of the sixteenth century, religious persecution under the Safavids resulted in conversion of the inhabitants of many Zoroastrian villages to Shi'te Islam and the trans- formation of related fire temples into mosques. Atashdan came to be hidden in inconspicuous side chambers of itashkada to protect the holy fires, which smoldered under piles of ash, from being squelched (Boyce 1979: 179). European visitors to Iran during the reign of Shah 'Abbas I (ruled 1587-1629) noted that, in 1608, a large number of Zoroastrians were forcibly relocated from the Yazd and Kerman areas to the capital city Isfahan to serve as labourers. Shah 'Abbas even had the dastur dasturdn executed together with other Zoroastrian notables for failing to deliver to the royal court a legendary manuscript ascribed to the biblical Abraham (see further Boyce 1979: 177-78, 181 with references; Chosky 2006: 135-38). Two New Persian designations gabr, "hollow, empty", hence "one lacking faith, infidel", and itashparast, "fire worshipper", become widely used slurs against Zoroastrians by Iranian Muslims, despite the formers' protestations starting centuries earlier that: "We worship god. We have our fire temples and the sun. But it is not the fire or the sun that we worship. On the contrary, those are to us as the prayer This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS 333 niche and the Ka'ba are to you" (T7rikh-e Sistan 93-94). Similarly, Armenian Christians scorned Zoroastrians for moxrapasht, "worshipping ash" (Russell 1987: 484). Forcible conversion of Zoroastrians to Shi'ism coupled with destruction of their fire temples and other places of worship was decreed by Soltan Hosayn (ruled 1694-1722), the last Safavid king. Yet not all years were ones of persecution, for a dedication plaque from the time of Shah 'Abbas records the construction of a khana- ye mehr, "house of Mithra" (an equivalent designation for dar-i mehr) by the Zoroastrians of Kerman city (Boyce 1977: 180; Chosky 2006: 138-41). The Arab Muslim conquest of Iran triggered migrations by Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism had reached China by the early sixth century where the religion came to be known as Hsien, and its priests or magi were termed mu-hu-pa (from Middle Persian mowbed). In 621, an dtakhshkadag (termed hu hsien tz 'u in Chinese) was founded in Changan. After the Arab Muslim conquest of Iran in the seventh century there were many small, poorly documented migrations away from that country over both land and sea. Some Zoroastrians, especially Sasanian nobles and military personnel, immigrated eastward through Central Asia to northern China. Other groups of Zoroastrians probably sailed from Iran to join expatriate communities already present in southern Chinese port cities like Canton. From China, small groups even relocated to Japan. At Changan, the number of Itashkada served by magi grew to four or five by the ninth century. Between ten to thirteen dtashkada functioned elsewhere in China until Zoroastrianism was proscribed there, together with other foreign faiths, in 845. However, Zoroastrians survived in China as late as the middle fourteenth century and may have maintained a few fire temples and shrines until that time (Leslie 1981-83). By the late Middle Ages, all those communities either had been completely assimilated into the local populations or had died out. The situation proved different for other groups of immigrants, those who went to India and formed the Parsi, "Persian", community that flourishes to the present. About five years, c. 941 after some of them arrived via Dui to Gujarat on the west coast of India, the Parsis consecrated an dtash bahrdm named Iran Shah, "King of Iran", which remained their main flame for more than eight hundred years (according to the Qessa- e Sanjdn, "Story of Sanjan", a narrative poem in New Persian based upon an older oral tradition, composed in 1600 by a priest named Bahman Kaykobad Sanjana). However, most religious rituals were performed using dadgah or hearth flames. As the community prospered and its population increased, some Parsis moved, in 1142 to Navsari on the banks of the Varoli river where recent excavations have produced the remains of an dtashdan. They also spread to the towns of Surat, Anklesar, Cambay and Broach. In addition, not all Parsis had left Dui where a sizeable community existed into premodern times. Over the centuries, and under the direction of priests and lay patrons, at least one dtashgah was established at each town. In India too, like in Iran, the earliest holy fires of the Parsis were housed in small mudbrick temples while dadgdh flames were lighted in open air fire altars, as attested by archeological remains-including altars and images on coins-from Navsari, Sanjan and Ajmalgadh (Parihar 2003: 32; Rivetna 2003: 30). When Sanjan was sacked by the Sultan of Gujarat Mahmud Begra (ruled 1458-1511), around the year 1465 Parsi magi transferred the Iran Shah itash bahram to a mountain cave at Bahrot, inland from the coast, for twelve years to ensure that it continued to burn unhindered by Muslims. From Bahrot the holy flame was moved again, first to the town of Bansda to the north-east and then to the city of Navsari around the year 1479 where-a few brief displacements notwithstanding-it remained as the focus of rituals for over three centuries. After a dispute in 1741 with the Bhagaria priests who controlled religious activities in Navsari, priests of the Sanjana panth, "ecclesiastic group", who were custodians of that atash bahram transferred it south to the city of Udwada. PREMODERN TO MODERN HOLY FIRES AND FIRE TEMPLES The question of freedom of worship for their Iranian co- religionists occupied the thoughts of Parsis in India so, in 1854 they sent an emissary named Manekji Limji Hataria (1813-90) to Iran. Hataria lived in Iran for four decades, married an Irani Zoroastrian woman, and even visited the Qajar royal court at Tehran to intercede on behalf of the Zoroastrians. Hataria's mission, coupled with pressure on the Qajar dynasty (1779-1925) from the British Raj on behalf of their subjects the Parsis, succeeded in having the jizya, "poll tax", abolished in Iran in 1882. Freedom of travel was also granted. Iranian magi then began travelling to and residing in This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 334 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES Fig. 4a. Adur Farrabay on altar in fire precinct, Yazd. India for clerical training-a trend that lasted until the later decades of the twentieth century, when the priesthood within Iran was able to strengthen its organi- sational and didactic bases during the reign of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi (1941-79). As a result, there are several functional fire temples in Iran. In many of the premodem rtashkada, entrance to the itashgdh is through a small doorway within a maze of dimly illuminated ambulatory corridors, which serves to restrict access and hide the flame from non-Zoroastrians who may threaten its purity or seek to extinguish it. The Yazd region serves as a ritual epicenter. The atash bahrdm, named Adur Farrobay or Adur Khara (Fig. 4a), now bums in a modem itashkada (Fig. 4b) built in 1940 at the city of Yazd (see also Godard 1938a: 15). The original fire temple at that site had dated from the 1790s was donated by Nasserwanji Kohyar of Surat, housed a flame sent overland from India, and had been repaired under the direction of Manekji Limji Hataria during 1855-56 using funds from Sir Dinshaw Manekji Petit of India. There is no direct evidence that Adur Farr6bay has ever been mingled with any other fire with the exception, perhaps, of its two parts being reunited (contra Boyce 1977: 80-81). The oldest fire temple, known as the dar-e mehr-e mas, "great court of Mithra", at Yazd city, dating from the Safavid period, is now used mainly as a place for ritual moumrning (compare Boyce 1977: 73; Green 2000: 117). The dtash bahram, called Fig. 4b. Modern fire temple ofAdur Farrobay, Yazd. Adur Anahid, which may derive from an Achaemenian period (550-331 B.C.) fire that eventually became the family fire of the Sasanian dynasty at Istakhr, is housed, usually smoldering as embers under a bed of ash in a metal fire altar (Fig. 5a), at an itashkada (Fig. 5b) in Sharifabad, which is now part of urban Ardakan (see also Siroux 1938: 83-87). Additionally, there are other dtashgdh with fire altars serving Zoroastrians in the towns and villages around Yazd (Boyce 1977: 26-27; 69-78; Gotla 1997: 55-70, provides an updated map and additional details for each location such as whether a magus is in residence; Green 2000: 117-19). Holy fires of the ddardn and dddgdh ranks are kept bumrning at most of those dtashkada, often supervised by a local magus. The village of Mobaraka has a premodem atashkada. At the village of Cham the fire bums in a mudbrick atashdan. Khorramshah has two functioning itashkada, a small premodem one and a larger one that was renovated in 1996. The dtash at Nasrabad bums in a small building. Another is still maintained by a magus at Rahmatabad. Several dtashkada have been renovated in modem times-such as at Kucha Boyuk (in 1861 and then remodelled in 1890 next to an older premodem fire temple), Zaynabad (in the 1890s), Moryabad or Maryamabad (c. 1900-16), Qasemabad (in the 1940s, and then remodelled in the late 1990s) and Ahrestan (in the 1950s). Other fire temples have been built in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including ones at Elabad or Allahabad, Kanu (built in 1994 on the site of an older one which was demolished in the process), Aliabad (in 1958), This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS 335 Fig. 5a. Adur Anahid on altar in fire precinct, Ardakan-Sharifabad. Fig. 5b. Modern fire temple hall with Adur Andhid in rear cham (left), Ardakan-Sharifabad. Fig. 6. Modern fire temple housing an adaran fire, Taft. Fig. 7. Pillar altar for dadgah fire, Taft. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 336 JOURNAL OF PERSIAN STUDIES Fig. 8. Magus praying before dddgdh fire on modern altar, Pir-e Sabz or Chakchak. Kheyrabad (built in 1958; now partially demolished road widening and so nonfunctional), Mazra' (or M Kalantar (built in 1991 to replace a premodemrn o Nosratabad (in 1938) and Qal'a-ye Asadan (in 1970s). The town of Taft has two holy fires-an ad with its own, small, modem, temple (Fig. 6) a dddgdh, which is lit afresh for ceremonies upon a altar (Fig. 7) in a contemporary building, w resembles neighbourhood shrines found throughou Fig. 9. Modern fire temple, T Zoroastrian quarters of Y Siroux 1938: 87-89). There are six major pir province of Yazd, each ha founding legend associated w withstand Islam. Also visited by Shi'ite Muslim Iranians, those shrines are Pir-e Nawraki (Nareke), Pir-e Narestan, Pir-e Sabz or Chakchak (Fig. 8), Set-e (Se-ta) Pir, Pir-e Herisht (Hrisht) and Pir-e Banu Pars at which pilgrims perform devotions (Fischer 1973: 210-15; Boyce 1977: 243-70; Firouzgary 2000: 9, 12-13, 22, 24, 29-30; Giara 2002: 173-78 with pls.; Langer 2004: 571-72, 588-89, 590-91). These often are financed by private foundations and administered by local anjoman, "association". Numerous minor shrines have altars as well, where fires either bum constantly or are lighted Fig. 10. Fire precinct inside modern fire temple, Isfahan. This content downloaded from 130.63.63.214 on Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:05:06 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ALTARS, PRECINCTS, AND TEMPLES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN ZOROASTRIAN PRAXIS 337 afresh by devotees (Boyce 1977: 82-91; Langer 2004: 573-74, 584-87, 590). A small shrine at Yazd city dedicated to Shah Bahram yazad has an dtashdan on which a fire can be made by devotees. The village of Abshahi possesses a pir dedicated to Mehr Yazad. Taft has the shrine of Baba Sharifaddin. Pillar fire altar bases are still used in many shrines, with small metal fire altars placed upon those bases (compare Langer 2004: 586 with pls. 13.8, 15.2, 15.4). The capital city, Tehran, has an adaran flame in the Bhika Bahram dtashkada (Fig. 9), constructed between 1913-16 with funding from Iranian and Parsi Zoroastrians and refurbished several times thereafter (see also Godard 1938a: 16-17; contra Boyce 1989a: 5, who states the flame is of itash bahram rank), where Zoroastrians pray. The suburb of Tehran Pars has two fire temples-the columned Rostam Baug dtashkada with an adaran flame and the contemporary-looking Pestonji Marker dtashkada (Giara 2002: 170 with pl.) with a dadgdh flame. Establishment of fire temples in Iran's capital city is a recent phenomenon, however, reflecting the relocation of Zoroastrians to that national centre from rural areas during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An adaran flame (Fig. 10) bums in Isfahan city's modem, Assyrian style winged-bull relief flanked, dtashkada. Another adardn flame bums in Shiraz city's itashkada. Kerman city (Boyce 1966) has the Banu Rostam Farrokh atashkada that was opened in 1924 to house an adaran flame (Fig. 11) and a more modem atashkada (Fig. 12), both within the same compound. Due to state pressure, as part of secularisation, access to most itashkada in Iran has been open since the 1960s to members of all faiths, who are requested but not required to cover their heads and remove footwear as signs of respect for the fires. But this merely formalised a practice noted by Parsi travelers to Iran for at least a century prior--one which used to be justified on the bas