MD
qualiaphile
MD, I think it would be highly enlightening if you also elaborated on some of the philosophical similarities between Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. Does it tend to be a bit Dharmic at times too?
They both came from some proto Indo European religion. They both emphasize fire as holy and have many cultural and historical similarities. Prayer over the fire and the way Brahmin priests pray is in some ways similar to Zoroastrian priests. The caste system in pre Islamic Iran was similar to Hinduism, and the yazatas are basically the Indo European gods made into angels (although they were meant to be abstract). The pre Zoroastrian Iranians had a trimurti sort of, with Indra, Mazda and Mithra as the three top gods.
However I think Zoroastrianism was the first divide as it basically went against the hard determinism of Hinduism. It said that we shape our own destiny, there is nothing truly written.
Philosophically it is different, but religiously it's not so different.