762 Zoroastrianism
fighting against the Bohemian partisans of Sigismund and
the Catholics, he lost his other eye in battle. Despite
internal conflicts among the Taborites, he continued to
lead them against the more conservative but heretical
forces of Prague in 1423. In the summer of that year,
Zˇizˇ ka undertook an unsuccessful invasion of HUNGARY.
After beating the more conservative Hussite nobles and
the forces of Prague again in 1424, he died of the PLAGUE
on October 11, 1424, while preparing an attack on
MORAVIA. His military tactic of using CAVALRY, infantry,
and cannons together was innovative for the time and
produced dramatic victories.
Further reading: Frantisek Michálek Bartos, The
Hussite Revolution, 1424–1437(New York: Columbia Uni-
versity Press, 1986); F. G. Heymann, John Zizka and the
Hussite Revolution(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1955); Norman Housley, The Later Crusades: From
Lyons to Alcazar, 1274–1580(Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1992); Howard Kaminsky, A History of the Hussite
Revolution (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1967).
Zoroastrianism (Mazdaism) Late antique and medieval
Zoroastrianism was the system of religious doctrines
ascribed to Zoroaster or Zarathustra. It was a dominant
religion in IRAN where under the SASSANIAN dynasty
between 226 and 651 it was the official state religion.
After the conversion of Iran to ISLAM, many Zoroastrians
moved to India, where they were called Parsis (Persians).
Of Zoroaster (ca. 658–ca. 551 B.C.E. or perhaps 1,000
years earlier) the person, little or nothing with much cer-
tainty has been found. He probably was active in north-
eastern Iran, western Afghanistan, and the Turkmen
Republic of the former Soviet Union in the early sixth
century B.C.E. The Gathas,hymns ascribed to him, have
always been among the most sacred writings or Scrip-
tures (Avesta) of the Zoroastrians.
BELIEFS
Essentially monotheistic, Zoroastrianism was probably
less dualistic in its cosmology at its beginning than it
would later become. According to that later rigid doctrinal
system, the world was made by one “Wise Lord,” or
Ahura Mazda, the creator and the source of light and
darkness, who had the help of a spirit and six immortals.
This lord was not all-powerful and was opposed by an
uncreated “Evil Spirit” or Ahriman who was in turn
assisted by other evil spirits. The created world was then
an arena of combat between good and evil represented in
these two beings. Human beings created to help Ahura
Mazda in his struggle with evil did have free will but at
the same time had the absolute duty to choose the good.
In fact all human effort was to be directed toward attain-
ing salvation. At death each individual soul was judged
according to his or her words and deeds. Those who failed
this judgment were cast into a HELLor a LIMBOto be puri-
fied of the consequences of their transgressions. There
was to be a return of a savior who would arrive for a final
battle between good and evil at the end of the world. Later
there was even an idea of resurrection of the dead. Much
of this was based on earlier Iranian religious beliefs. Fire
was regarded as a life force for the whole of creation and
was at the center of Zoroastrian initiations and rituals in
temples. This religion influenced Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam in ways that have remained unclear. There are
still some Zoroastrians in present-day IRAQand Iran.
See alsoDUALISM; ESCHATOLOGY;MANICHAEISM AND
MANI.
Further reading:Mary Boyce, Zoroastrians: Their
Religious Beliefs and Practices(London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul, 1984); Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastri-
anism,3 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989–1991); Jamsheed
Choksy, Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns
and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society(New York:
Columbia University Press, 1997); Robert C. Zaehner,
The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism(New York:
Putnam, 1961).