An Analysis of the Reasons and Consequences of the Relationship Between the Zoroastrians of Iran and the Baha'i Community in the Qajar Period

The influence of the Baha'is among a section of the Zoroastrian community in Iran was considered one of the greatest problems of the followers of this religious minority during the Qajar period. In those days, a number of educated Zoroastrian youth, influenced by the lifestyle and teachings of the Parsis or Parsees and the reformist and egalitarian slogans of the emerging so-called Baha'i faith, undertook extensive social and religious reforms within the Iranian Zoroastrian community and formed the Baha'i Zoroastrian community of Iran (Aheba). Using a descriptive-analytical method and focusing on the documents and works of the Zoroastrian and Baha'i communities of Iran, this paper studies the reasons behind the connection between the followers of Zoroastrianism and the so-called Baha'i faith and the consequences of this connection among the Zoroastrian community in Iran. The results indicate that the social pressures on Zoroastrian dissidents and the support of the Parsis and the British for these people, led some Zoroastrians to convert to the emerging so-called Baha'i faith, which led to widespread conflicts among prominent Zoroastrian figures in Iran