Āzar Kayvān (; ) was the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious organisation. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many god ...

of Istakhr and a gnostic philosopher, who was a native of Fars,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and later emigrated to

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

in the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

during the reign of Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. A member of the community (), he became the founder of a Zoroastrian school of or Illuminationists, which exhibited features of Sufi Muslim influence. This school became known as the "Abadi sect".or Azarkeivanian.

Biography

Details regarding Azar Kayvan's life are scant and are mainly derived from the hagiographical literature of the Abadi sect. This hagiography places Azar Kayvan, son of Azar Gashasb, and his ancestry back to Sasan V then through Sasan to the Kayanian dynasty, Keyumars, and finally to Mahābād, the primordial figure who appeared at the very beginning of the great cycle of prophecy, according to the ''Dasatir-i-Asmani'', and who seems to be none other than

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

. His mother was named Shirin; her ancestry goes back to Philosopher King Khosrow I. According to the '' Dabestan-e Mazaheb'', Azar Kayvan showed signs of his calling to the contemplative life as a young boy. Through dreams and visions he received the teaching of the ancient sages of

, which allowed him to give extraordinary replies to questions which were asked of him at the

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

where he was a student, and which won him the nickname "master of the sciences". Internal references in the biography by his devotees allow us to determine that his residence was at Itakhr (about a hundred kilometers north of

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

), where he spent the first thirty or forty years of his life in contemplation and where he assembled his first assembly of disciples. Around 1570, drawn by the religious revival which was taking place in India around the Emperor Akbar, he left with them to settle down in the town of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, where he lived until he died at around eighty-five years of age.

Students and influence

Amongst his students, certain of these hagiographical sources place key Twelver Shi'a theosophical figures of the

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

philosophical revival at

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

within his circle. Notably among these figures was Baha' al-din al-'Amili and Mir Fendereski, on whose behest the latter seems to have translated the ''

Yoga Vasistha ''Vasishta Yoga Samhita'' (, IAST: '; also known as ''Mokṣopāya'' or ''Mokṣopāyaśāstra'', and as ''Maha-Ramayana'', ''Arsha Ramayana'', ''Vasiṣṭha Ramayana'', ''Yogavasistha-Ramayana'' and ''Jnanavasistha'', is a historically popular ...

'' from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

into Persian. Azar Keyvan had tendency towards the philosophical school of Shihab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi, another Persian philosopher of 12th century. He was regarded by his followers to be the reviver of Illuminationism (Illuminationist Philosophy) within the context of

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. According to one school of thought, Dastur Meherji Rana, who had influenced

and founded the famous lineage of

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

high priests at

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is between Surat and Mumbai. It is a twin city of Surat, 37 km to the north. At the 2011 Census of Ind ...

, was a disciple of Azar Kayvan.

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References

Works cited

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