"Scattered Like Jewels": The Poetics and Politics of Zoroastrian Religious Identity in Early Islamic Iran

This paper will examine Zoroastrian priestly responses to the Islamic conquests and the increasing Islamicization of Iranian society from the 7th century onwards. The transition from being the dominant religion to an ever-shrinking minority produced a sense of loss and a threat to traditional forms of authority. This paper will survey legal, cultural, and religious institutions and structures that became stress points in an Iranian society undergoing a cultural revolution.