The Birth Date of Zarathushtra

According to tradition, & Greek sources, Zarathushtra was born to the family of Haetat-aspa ( his great grand father) of the Spitaman section of the priestly Athrawan tribe around 7100BC in the town of Rae (Raya), along the banks of the river Veh-daiti, (one of the 6 tributaries of the now dried River Harah-vaiti/Vedic: Saras-wati) north east of Drangiana ( Zarangiana) , a mountainous territory around Lake Hamun and the Helmand river in Seistan (Iran-Afghanistan).
In the Vendidad, Raya is listed between the Helmand river and Caxra (assumed to be modern Carx near Ghazna in southeast Afghanistan) and is therefore different from Median Raga and modern Ray.

In the Gathas, Zarathushtra refers to himself as a Zaotar (Vedic: hotr) in Ys33.6, a sacrificing (Yasna) invoker (priest), and a manthran, a mantra-composer. He refers to his societal (varna) grouping, the Aathra-van (vedic: atharvan), priests using fire as a medium of communication with the almighty. This is also the term from which the word “aa-thra” that energetic fire that is fuel for spiritual self. He refers to the holy, divine force as Spenta (Note the root word "Sp" for pure/white, cognate with “Spitamaan” a sub group of the Athravaans). Tradition records that Zarathushtra was preparing for a hoama (Vedic: soma ) sacrifice when he received his first inspiration.


Spencer gives details from Malcom's "History of Ancient Persia" and states that for 2598 years some four dynasties ruled over Persia from Yama Vivanghao (Yama Vaivaswat in Sanskrit) in whose time the Deluge commenced (end of the ice age), i.e., in 9844 B.C. The rule of these four dynasties ended therefore in approximately 7200 B.C. By this time, Kai Vishtaspa became ruler of Persia. Sage Kaksivan (RV 1-122-13) speaks of one Istasva who is identified with Vishtaspa by E.S.Bharucha (quoted by Hodivala). This king is supposed to have ruled for 120 years, and so his period can be fixed in the vicinity of 7100B.C. Zarathustra was a contemporary of King Vishtaspa, and therefore his date can be worked out to be around 7100BC . 
On the basis of astronomical observations at the time, Spencer determines Zarathustra's date to be around 7052 B.C., coinciding with the dates determined above.


Greek Philosophers attest to an almost same time frame. Herodotus dates him at 6450BC, Eudoxus at 6347BC, Xanthus at 6486BC; while Arsitotle, Hermodorus & Hermippus placed Zarathushtra at 6194BC.


Traditionally, Zarathushtra has been considered a master mathematician & astronomer. He is said to have calculated the rare coincidence of sunrise in Sistan (considered at that time as the center of the known world-from Japan to Ireland),  with its longitudinal equinox in 7037BC & called it Nav-roz, or New Year.


The Gathas are replete with references to metals & chariots; a fact confirmed by the Vedas which identify their enemies (the Ahura followers) as living in fortified cities & possessing metallic implements. Yet western scholarships till recently has had an obsession in terming Zarathushtras' time as nomadic.


Modern archeological advances validate this ancient date & I encourage everyone to get hold of the book "When Zarathushtra Spoke" by Mary Settegast; which methodically & scientifically blows away the theory of the so  called nomadic era of Zarathushtras' time.




The Varsagira battle (referred to in hymn I.100 of the Rig Veda) is identified by many Zarathushti scholars as a civil war between the Iranians and Indian (Bharatas) sections of the Indo-Iranian tribes, at the time of Zarathushtra. The hymn (in I.100.17) names five persons as being the main protagonists in the battle:
In the Rigveda, Istasva (Vistaspa) is mentioned as an antognistic in verse I.122.13, roughly translated by Sayana as follows: “What can Istava, Istarasmi, or any other princes do against those who enjoy the protection of Mitra and Varuna. Note the reverence to the common divinities.
a. The leader of the Varsagiras is Rjrasva. He is identified by most scholars with the Arej-ataspa or Arj-aspa the Turanian, who is referred to in the Avesta as the main enemy of Vistapa and his brothers (Aban Yasht.5.109, 113; and Gosh Yasht, .9.30). Later Iranian tradition (as in the Shahname) goes so far as to hold Zarathustra himself to have been killed by Arjaspa.
b. Sahadeva is one of the four companions of Rjrasva in the battle. He is correctly identified by S.K. Hodiwala , with the Hushdiv remembered in the Shahname (Chapter 462) as one of the main enemies of Vistaspa in the battle, who led Arjaspa’s troops from the rear. Although not mentioned in the Avesta, Hushdiv is a natural development of Hazadaeva, which would be the exact Avestan equivalent of the Vedic name Sahadeva.
c. The other three companions of Rjrasva in the battle are AmbarIsa, Bhayamana and Suradhas.
In the “Cama Memorial Volume, E.” Sheheriarji quotes RV I.100.17 to identify the other persons mentioned in the said Rigvedic verse by showing that the names of certain persons known to be connected with Arjaspa in the Avesta bear the same meanings as the names of the persons in the said verse. Thus he says that AmbarIsa is identical with Bidarfsha (= Av. Vidarafshnik) brother of ArjAspa, since both the names mean ‘one with beautiful garments’. Similarly, Bhayamana = Vandaremaini, father of Arjaspa, both meaning ‘the fearless one’; also Suradhas = Humayaka, brother of Arjaspa, as both the words mean ‘one with much wealth’




Hodiwala correctly identifies Humayaka, Arjaspa’s comrade in the Avesta (Aban Yasht, Yt.5.113) with Somaka, the son of Sahadeva (IV.15.7-10).
There is a strong likelihood that the Suradhas of I.100.17 is the same as the Somaka of IV.15.7-10.
This War also appears to have set the Avestics living in the Sapta-Sindhu homeland towards the North, and West directions . This date is in wonderful agreement with Greek sources about the times of Zarathushtra.
The main priestly enemies of the Zarathushtra & his followers are the Angras (Vedic Angirases) who are condemned throughout the Avesta right down from the Gathas of Zarathushtra. The Angarisas are that section of the Atharwaan tribe that split from the Ahura tradition & took up worship of multiple Devas (Deified Man, elevated to Godly heights). They were the composers of the early portions of the Rig Veda. The Gathas & Avesta refer to the Angirases (from which the term Angra mainyu- the evil mentality is derived), as enemy priests & their two branches, the Usiks (Vedic Usijs/Ausijas) mentioned in Ys 44.20 and Gaotemas (Gautamas), both of whom originated in and dominated the early Period of the Rig Veda compositions. The Angarisas are mentioned by Zarathushtra himself in the Gathas ( Ys48.10 ) & designated as karapan (a derogatory word used in reference to enemy priests who are extremely ritual oriented to the extent of being blind & deaf to righteous intelligent resoning & judgment) & in whose hymns alone we find references to the conflict of the Vedics with the Zarathushti.


Modern Science (read Western) is only recently coming to terms with  the latest archaeological thinking and developments in the Neolithic Middle East.
The following is extracted from a letter written by Mary Settegast, author of When Zarathustra Spoke

"Incidentally, archaeologists today agree that the term "Neolithic," coined in the early 20th century, can no longer be usefully applied to anything other than a time period - roughly 8500 BC (with the beginning of agriculture in the Middle East) until c. 5500 BC (with the onset of copper tools). Even then the term is problematic (e.g.,
many areas of the world did not become agricultural until much later), and "Neolithic" is no longer considered an appropriate term for describing levels of human development.

Although some scholars do accept Professor Gimbutas's theory of matriarchal societies in the complex known as "Old Europe," others do not - and especially not with regard to earlier sites in lands further east. A close study of the settlement at Catalhoyuk (c.7200-6200 BC) in Turkey, and/or a close reading of my chapter on what
the former excavator of this site called a "city of shrines," should put to rest any attempted generalization of all Neolithic-age people as "primitive."

The presence of intricately carved male figures of apparent high rank at Catalhoyuk also argues against an easy designation of that community as a matriarchal one. Moreover, an image of what appears to be a wooden platform was discovered in one of the many wall paintings at Catalhoyuk, which, combined with the frequent representations of birds of prey at the site, suggests that some form of exposure of the dead may have been among the burial practices there.
As for the use of the word "corn" in the Avesta , I was told by a British professor that the early English translators of the Persian books, as well as British writers like Frazer, used the English word "corn" to mean any kind of grain. As I do not speak or read Avestan,I would greatly appreciate being corrected in this regard. I find it
hard to imagine that early Zoroastrians in any epoch were cultivating what we now think of as corn, but I could certainly be wrong."

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