Zoroastrianism and Hinduism – From Proto-Indo-Iranian Unity to the Gāthās-Rigveda Schism
Zoroastrianism and Hinduism – From Proto-Indo-Iranian Unity to the Gāthās-Rigveda Schism A single Bronze-Age people once kindled one fire, pressed one sacred plant, and sang to one sky. Around 2000 BCE, the Indo-Iranians split—some toward the Indus, others toward the Iranian Plateau. Their gods—Mitra, Varuna, Vāyu, Agni/Atar—travelled with them, as did the cosmic law Ṛta/Asha and the intoxicating Soma/Haoma. Then came Zarathushtra (c. 1200–1000 BCE), a lone voice in the wilderness. In 17 Gāthās (238 stanzas), he flipped the pantheon: Devas became Daevas, Ahura Mazda reigned alone, and ritual was moralised into Good Thoughts-Words-Deeds. Across the mountains, ṛṣis poured 1,028 Rigvedic hymns (10,600 stanzas) to a thousand gods. Linguistically twinned (ahmi = asmi), metrically parallel, thematically braided—fire, waters, truth—they diverged into ethical monotheism versus mythic pluralism. Zoroastrianism crowned Sasanian Persia (10–20 million, 4th–6th c. CE), crumbled after 65...