Janet Kestenberg Amighi
Janet Kestenberg Amighi Ph.D. is author of "The Zoroastrians of Iran: Conversion, Assimilation, and Persistence," 1990. This book was based on her anthropological studies during her seven years residence in Tehran and Kerman Iran (1971-78) with her Zoroastrian husband and his family. The book is a standard reference for information on the social history of Zoroastrians, especially during the era of the Pahlavi Shahs. Janet and her family left Iran for a planned two-year visit with her American family, but the Iranian war with Iraq (1980-88) kept her from returning. She is a retired professor and lives in Pennsylvania close to nature but alas far from Iran. She hopes the book will appeal to diaspora Zoroastrians eager to connect more deeply with the social history of their homeland community.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Pronunciation Guide
Introduction
Section I
A Brief Encounter:
Popular Beliefs and Practices Among the Zoroastrians
of Iran
Chapter 1
Faces of the Zoroastrian Religion: The Gathas
Chapter 2
Faces of the Zoroastrian Religion: Divinities and
the Later Avesta
Chapter 3
From the Arab Conquest to the Qajars: 1,200 Years
in a Few Words
Section II
From the Qajar Era to the Chaos of the Mosaddegh Years
Chapter 4
Zoroastrian Life in Nineteenth-Century Yazd and Kerman
Chapter 5
Conversion to Islam
Chapter 6
The Coming of the Parsis
Chapter 7
Beyond the Parsis: Other Sources of Reform and
Progress in the Late Nineteenth Century
Section III
From Revolution to Rebellion in Tehran
Chapter 8
Early Twentieth-Century Tehran and
the Constitutional Revolution
Chapter 9
The Era of Reza Shah and Enhanced Zoroastrian Status
Chapter 10
The Mosaddegh Era: Zoroastrian Conservatism
and Rebellion, 1940–1959
Section IV
Mohammad Reza Shah and Secularism
Chapter 11
Zoroastrian Community and Family Structure
in 1960s–’70s Tehran
Chapter 12
Integration into Iranian Society and
the Threat of Secularization
Section V
Life in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Chapter 13
Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran:
Zoroastrians in the Khomeini Era
Chapter 14
Change under Succeeding Presidential Reigns:
1989–2021
Chapter 15
Zoroastrian Responses in the Face of Islamism
and Modernism
Chapter 16
Vitality, Persistence, Secularism, and
Concluding Thoughts
Epilogue
Color Illustrations
Tables
Table 1 :Six Key Books of the Avesta
Table 2:The Amesha Spentas
Table 3: Early History
Table 4: Zoroastrian Literacy in 1891 Iran
Appendices
Appendix A: Zoroastrian Clubs and Associations: The Pahlavi Era 1970s
Appendix B:Zoroastrian Institutions: The Pahlavi Era 1970s
Appendix C:Zoroastrian Clubs, Foundations, and Institutions in Islamic Republic Era 2016
Appendix D: Seasonal Festivals
Glossary
References
Index
7/22/2023
This fascinating book includes more than an update and extensive revision of the authorís 1990 book, The Zoroastrians of Iran: Conversion, Assimilation, and Persistence. She and her collaborator, Bahman Moradian, have also added a section on Zoroastrianism, its basic tenets and practices, but mainly from the point of view of the Zoroastrian communities. They have expanded the sections on 19th-century history and later, and the post-1979 history is of course new and for many the most interesting part of the book. For those who want an insiderís look at the Zoroastrian community in Iran, this book is indispensable.
Prods Oktor Skjaerv
Aga Khan Professor of Iranian Emeritus Harvard University Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
7/22/2023
This is an entirely new blending of up-to-date scholarship with the richness and nuance of ethnographic work. An invaluable resource on the Zoroastrians of Iran, particularly from the 1978 revolution to the present
Monica M. Ringe
Professor of Middle Eastern Histor
Amherst Colleg
7/22/2023
This revised second edition of Janet Kestenberg Amighi’s groundbreaking work is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of contemporary Zoroastrian communities
Professor Richard Foltz, Ph.D.
Department of Religions and Culture
Concordia Universit
Montreal, PQ., Canad