01-13-2006, 02:07 AM
-Iran is indeed derived from Airyana vaejo not Aila. There is no doubt about this.
-Many Indo-Iranian tribes called themselves Aryan, but specifically declared their rivals non-Aryan.
-The claim that Sassanians persecuted others is particularly exaggerated by the Western Christian authors. Both Rome and Iran where pluralist states like India till the coming of Christianity. Christian exclusivism targeted the Roman empire first. Here it faced stiff competition from the old Indo-European Roman religion and the rising Mithraism which was pretty similar to Mazdaism but concentrated on Mithra rather than Mazda (varuNa). But the Christians duely demonize Mithraism too for obvious reasons.
After Constantine's conversion the Christian exclusivism spread to Iranian territories. Constantine advised the Iranian emperor Shapur II to convert to the Yesu mata. Of course the Iranians did not bother. That initiated the holy war of the Christians. About 80 years later Christians started desecrating Iranian fire temples. This resulted in swift retaliation as the Christians were punished by the Iranian for their hostile attacks in Iranian territory. They fled west into the Roman territory and sought aid from the Christian roman emperor. In the christian Roman empire Iranian and other pagan shrines like those of the Germans were descrated, though Iran itself recognized minority rights of Christians and provided them protection to worship.
There has been large scale displacement of the original Iranian stock in Iran by the Moslems
-Many Indo-Iranian tribes called themselves Aryan, but specifically declared their rivals non-Aryan.
-The claim that Sassanians persecuted others is particularly exaggerated by the Western Christian authors. Both Rome and Iran where pluralist states like India till the coming of Christianity. Christian exclusivism targeted the Roman empire first. Here it faced stiff competition from the old Indo-European Roman religion and the rising Mithraism which was pretty similar to Mazdaism but concentrated on Mithra rather than Mazda (varuNa). But the Christians duely demonize Mithraism too for obvious reasons.
After Constantine's conversion the Christian exclusivism spread to Iranian territories. Constantine advised the Iranian emperor Shapur II to convert to the Yesu mata. Of course the Iranians did not bother. That initiated the holy war of the Christians. About 80 years later Christians started desecrating Iranian fire temples. This resulted in swift retaliation as the Christians were punished by the Iranian for their hostile attacks in Iranian territory. They fled west into the Roman territory and sought aid from the Christian roman emperor. In the christian Roman empire Iranian and other pagan shrines like those of the Germans were descrated, though Iran itself recognized minority rights of Christians and provided them protection to worship.
There has been large scale displacement of the original Iranian stock in Iran by the Moslems