Zoroastrians’ interpretation of the retribution of sinner women in Hell based on Indian illustrated versions of the Book of ArdavirafNameh

The first immigration wave of Persians to India dates back to around 705-706 AD (Azargoshasb, 1968: 60), probably due to the disappointment of Zoroastrian community in Iran after Arab invasion and lack of hope to regain their fortune in a near future. After many Iranians converted to Islam religion, and harassment of Zoroastrians by Muslim rulers and followers was increased, some groups of Zoroastrians began moving to India and stayed there for good. The got settled in several spots within the North of India and formed local communities which were called Persians. They played an active role in Indian society until their lands were taken again by Muslims. Despite all unfair difficulties, challenges, and restrictions, Persian managed to survive in the subcontinent. When Europeans arrived in India, since they had relatively more fair and easy going policies regarding religions, Persian used this opportunity to involve in trade and business more than ever and hence, successfully expanded their communities (Azargoshasb, 1968: 60, Shahmardan, 1970:22).This period, in which so many foreigners were present in India, provided Persians a chance to express themselves; not only they reformed the Persian community of India, but also introduced their religion and ethics to the Western world by opening their doors to orientalists and gave them access to Avestan & Pahlavi books for the first time. They also could stablish more connections with people inside Iranian borders, especially with those Zoroastrians who had remained there. Moreover, years later these Persians played a positive role in India’s independence and civil wars which led to the disintegration of India in favor of the mainland. Their efforts were appreciated by Indian government and people. (Azargoshasb, 1968: 74-77). The growth of Persian literature during those centuries was dramatic and many books were written in Persian, Gujarati and Sanskrit languages including the versified Ardavirafnameh and Denkardnameh; the illustrated versions of their transcriptions are viewed in this research. With the aim of studying the place of Ardavirafnameh in Zoroastrian religious literature and analyzing its illustrations in comparison to the judicial system of Zoroastrian Jurisprudence, 15 images were selected from 4 handwritten illustrated versions plus the lithographed Indian Ardaviraf Nameh and then were subjected to description and analysis. Retelling a number of undue rulings added to Zoroastrianism by some magi (priests), a background is provided to distinguish pure from impure within the theology of Zoroastrianism.

This research is among the basic theoretical researches in terms of purpose and is considered descriptive-analytical in nature. Gathering library and documentary information and collecting tools is also phishing. The statistical population of the study is 15 selected manuscripts and lithographs of Ardavirafnameh and Dinkardnameh of India that have been selected. 

As well as there are various transcriptions from the original text of Ardavirafnameh, several Zoroastrian artists have also tried to illustrate them.There is no doubt that public attentions and enthusiasm towards Ardaviraf's story has been the most important reason for Zoroastrian writers and artists to approach this subject; but while studying these works, one must consider other social reasons associated with religious propaganda and competing with other religions and schools of thought as side motivations. The history of Zoroastrian art (after Islam) is largely obscure, and the exact number of illustrated copies of Ardaviraf's story is not known; more importantly, the artists who created these copies have remained mostly unknown.The sequence and continuity of the images of the story caused those artists not to follow the usual rules and frameworks of drawing and common depiction. The product of their efforts should rather be considered imagery, which usually does not pay much attention to the details. From these illustrations, we know four works, some of which are manuscripts and some are lithographs, and most likely all of them were made in India.

Ardavirafnameh is a literary-religious book. The narrations of Vandidad and some similar cases are often considered to be in contrary to the essence of Zarathustra’s teachings and several attempts have been made to exclude them from Zoroastrianism. This literary feature not only saved Ardavirafnameh from being lost and forgotten in the history, but also drew more and more attention to it. During the British domination of the Indian subcontinent, Muslim austerity on the Persian-speaking communities of India was somewhat reduced and therefore a noticeable progress was made for them in terms of culture and economy. It was during this period of time that Zoroastrian artists illustrated Ardavirafnameh versions. Not only they did not try to soften the text, but also drew dreadful illustrations for them as much as they could; and again, the woman -the Zoroastrian woman- was the main victim. They mostly focused on women. Women were being tortured and suffering from punishments which were generally related to their gender and sexuality; therefore sometimes pictures were degraded to rudimentary pornography level. This may have been influenced by India's larger society at the time, when both Muslim and Hindu groups were insisting on the traditional role of women, and Persians didn’t want to present themselves as ignorant and indulgent people regarding the sexual affairs of their small community. To address the questions of the present study, it should be clarified that the depictions of Indian manuscripts of Ardavirafnameh are largely influenced by non-court or traditional Indian painting style, which Zoroastrian painters used according to the text and based on the same principles and rules. It can be assumed that if these books were illustrated among the Zoroastrians of Iran, the result could have been quite different. Therefore, the relationship between these illustrations and Zoroastrian jurisprudence is an innovative and transversal one; hence, they cannot be considered as cases of Zoroastrian art. Similarly, the relationship between artists and the text of Ardavirafnameh is a relative one in which the artist intends to warn his audience and thus he hasn’t paid much attention to the aesthetic aspects of his work. One of the biggest points that the illustrators have overlooked is that they have not paid enough attention to the temporal and spatial environment of the story; the character faces are similar to the Indians of recent centuries, and certainly not the pre-Islamic Iranians. Ardaviraf himself and his companions are also dressed like the affluent and elite class of India of that time. So, overall it can be concluded that these illustrations are mainly independent from the literary text of Ardavirafnameh, and they should be studied separately. A total of four illustrated copies have been identified, all of which emphasize on the severe torments and suffering of human souls in Hell; the use of cold and bright colors in colorful drawings has added to the negative psychological aspect of them. Artists tried not to depict nudity of body organs as far as they could, especially those of women; but they did portray naked bodies without any cover only for the purpose of showing their helplessness versus their punishments.