Zoroastrianism: ranks and lineage

IColours

Colour used for this page of the library: White #FFFFFF / #E0782A. Every colour code is approximate, since most paths name their colours without publishing codes.

Principal colour the colour of the path

Place of worship real sanctuaries

Ritual colours by occasion and season

Mourning and avoided colours

IIRanks

Zoroastrianism has no global central church. The Parsis of India organise the priesthood into five priestly divisions, each headed by a Dastur. The Zoroastrians of Iran have a Council of Mobeds in Tehran. The priesthood is hereditary within the Athornan lineage.

1. 1
   Vada Dasturji Vada Dasturji · High priest

   A modern title for senior high priests.

2. 2
   Dastur دستور dastur · Dastur, high priest

   Leads one of the five geographic priestly divisions. Britannica describes the role as a kind of bishop in charge of one or more important temples. At the Iranshah Atash Behram, two Dasturs are chosen in rotation from nine priestly families.

3. 3
   Panthaki Panthaki · Priest in charge

   A priest in charge of a fire temple and serving a panthak (a district of a number of families).

4. 4
   Mobed موبد mobed, từ magav-paiti · Mobed

   A priest who has completed both Navar and Maratab, and usually performs the major rites such as the Yasna and Vendidad.

5. 5
   Ervad Ervad, Herbad, từ aethrapaiti (thầy dạy) · Ervad

   The title received after the Navar ceremony, the first grade of priest.

6. 6
   Mobedyar (in Iran) موبدیار mobedyar · Assistant priest

   Assistant priest in Iran, including women. May not tend the sacred fire.

Followers: Zarthoshtis, Mazdayasnis. In India called Parsis, in Iran Zartoshtis. Believers are usually initiated through the Navjote at 7 to 9 years of age.. Two lineages: Athornan (priestly) and lay. The lay name Behdin is commonly used but was not cited from a source in this round.

IIIForms of address

IVVestments by rank

Flat drawings made from the descriptions in the sources, with no people shown. Colours are approximate.

VLine of succession

Zoroastrianism reveres Zarathustra as its founding prophet. The priesthood passes through the male line in priestly families (Athornan in India, mobed in Iran), with no single head. Today the highest voice among Indian Parsis belongs to the Vada Dasturjis who keep the Iranshah Atash Behram fire at Udvada, and in Iran to the Tehran Council of Mobeds.

Zoroastrianism: from Zarathustra to the end of the Sasanian era

1. dating disputed, c. 1500 to 1000 BCE according to many scholarsZarathustra (Zoroaster) 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 (Zaraθuštra)

   Prophet and founder, author of the Gathas.

2. 550 to 330 BCEMagi priesthood under the Achaemenids 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 (maguš)

   Priestly class of the Achaemenid empire, forerunners of the mobeds.

3. reigned 522 to 486 BCEDarius I (the Great) 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 (Dārayavauš)

   Achaemenid king whose Behistun inscription credits Ahuramazda.

4. 3rd centuryTansar (Tosar) تنسر

   High priest of Ardashir I, credited with collecting the Avesta.

5. active c. 240 to 293Kartir (Kerdir) Kardīr, Kerdīr (Trung Ba Tư)

   Powerful Sasanian high priest who left four inscriptions.

6. 4th century, under Shapur IIAdurbad Mahraspandan Ādurbād ī Mahrspandān (Trung Ba Tư)

   High priest under Shapur II, credited with fixing orthodoxy.

7. c. 5th to 6th centuriesThe Avestan script and the Sasanian Avesta Abestāg (Trung Ba Tư)

   Invention of the Avestan script and written canon.

8. 9th centuryAdurfarnbag Farrokhzadan and the Denkard Ādurfarnbag ī Farroxzādān (Trung Ba Tư)

   Began compiling the Denkard in the Abbasid period.

Parsis in India: the Iranshah fire and its Dasturs

1. 716, 785 or 936 by different reckonings, fire founded in 721 according to temple traditionArrival at Sanjan, founding of the Iranshah fire ઈરાનશાહ

   Migration to Gujarat and founding of the first Atash Behram.

2. c. 11th to 12th centuriesNeryosang Dhaval નેર્યોસંગ ધવલ

   Translated the Yasna into Sanskrit.

3. 1419 to 1740Fire moved to Navsari નવસારી

   The fire resided at Navsari for over three centuries.

4. 1514 to 1591Dastur Meherji Rana દસ્તુર મેહેરજી રાણા

   First Dastur of Navsari, received at Akbar's court.

5. 1742Iranshah fire enshrined at Udvada ઉદવાડા

   The fire reached Udvada, tended by nine priestly families.

6. 1745Kadmi and Shahenshahi split કદમી, શહેનશાહી

   Calendar dispute creating parallel ritual branches.

7. 1875 to 1956Dastur Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla દસ્તુર ધાલા

   High priest of Karachi and noted scholar.

8. 20th centuryDastur Kaikobad Dastur and Dr. Dastur Hormazdyar Mirza

   Twin high priests of Iranshah in the 20th century.

9. died 2016Vada Dasturji Peshotan Mirza

   Succeeded Hormazdyar Mirza. His seat stayed vacant until 2024.

10. Vada Dasturji from 2002Vada Dasturji Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor વડા દસ્તુરજી ખુરશેદ દસ્તુર

    High priest of the Iranshah Atash Behram since 2002.

11. Vada Dasturji from 11/2/2024Vada Dasturji Tehemton Mirza વડા દસ્તુરજી તહેમતન મિર્ઝા

    Appointed 2024, restoring the twin high priest tradition.

A venerated figure: the library shows no portrait, only the name inside a round seal.

VIOrdination and transmission

The priesthood is hereditary for men of the Athornan lineage. Every priest must undergo initiation. In India women are not initiated. In Iran, following a 2009 proposal of the Tehran Council of Mobeds, women may serve as mobedyars.

1. NavarRequirement: A boy of a priestly family, before pubertyRite: About 25 days: two Bareshnum purifications (nine days each), six days of Gewra performed by two priests, and four days of the Navar ceremony. On completion the title Ervad is given.
2. MaratabRequirement: Usually one or two years after Navar, reciting the 22 chapters of the Vendidad interleaved with the Yasna and VisperadRite: One Bareshnum and two days performing the Yasna and Vendidad. On completion the priest may perform all rites.
3. Panthaki, DasturRequirement: Appointed to lead a temple or a divisionRite: no source found

VIIWhere the sources disagree

• The old colour in mau-sac.json is #96450C (burnt brownish orange), justified by the sacred fire. No original Zoroastrian colour name matching this code was found, so it is an impressionistic colour. Community sources only name white spaēta as the symbol.
• mau-that.json records plain stone or glazed tile walls, with fire as the only light in the sanctum, which matches Wikipedia. The old note says non-Zoroastrians may not enter. This is true of fire temples in India (entry is barred wherever the fire can be seen), and Wikipedia records it as custom rather than doctrine. No source was found on a similar rule in Iran.
• Ranking of Dastur and Vada Dasturji: Karanjia describes the Dastur as leader of one of the five priestly divisions and Vada Dasturji as a modern title. Britannica calls the Dastur simply a senior priest. The order between these two titles is still unclear.
• The padan mouth cloth of priests and the reddish-brown pagdi of Parsi laymen are often mentioned but were not cited from a source in this round.
• Female mobedyars in Iran were at first opposed by the Parsi community in India, and later drew some support. The Parsis still do not initiate women as priests.
• The hex codes for firelight, sandalwood and the sanctum walls are estimates, not named colours.
• The dating of Zarathustra varies widely, from about 1500 to 500 BCE. The range given here follows many scholars.
• The arrival of the Zoroastrians at Sanjan has three reckonings (716, 785, 936). The Iranshah temple uses 721 as the founding date of the fire.
• Darius I and the Achaemenid dynasty: scholars still debate how far this dynasty was Zoroastrian. Included as a milestone because the Behistun inscription names Ahuramazda.
• No standard complete list of the Iranshah Dasturs is publicly available, so no full list is given. The years in office of Kaikobad Dastur and Hormazdyar Mirza were not found.
• Iran has the Tehran Council of Mobeds (Anjoman-e Mobedan), which has ordained female mobedyars since 2009 and 2011. Its present head could not be verified, so no separate line is included.
• The Kartir image is a 2008 photograph of a contemporary relief at Naqsh-e Rajab. The Dhalla image is a wedding photograph of a Parsi couple with Dhalla standing in the middle and needs cropping before use.
• No free images of Khurshed Dastoor or Tehemton Mirza were found on Commons.
• No organised Zoroastrian community was found in Vietnam, so no Vietnam line is included.

VIIISources

?Quick Questions

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