A Survey of Religious Pluralism in Sassanid Era of Iran

Some archaeologists claim that Islam is a monopolistic religion, but in ancient Iran, especially the last dynasty of Iran, the Sassanid era, there was freedom and tolerance in the face of opposing religious beliefs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the question: did religious pluralism really exist in Sassanid Iran and, if any, what was their pluralism in that period? The present study is a descriptive-analytical method with interdisciplinary (historical-theological) nature and the research findings show that in the structure of the Sassanid government, especially the clergy in this era due to the domination of Zoroastrian religion and their exclusivism, there not only may be found any case for belief in religious pluralism meant by epistemological or functional pluralism or salvation, but they did not even believe in or adhere to any form of religious behavioral pluralism, and they imposed various social and religious strictures on the followers of other religions.