History

Although the founder of the religion of Zoroastrianism is Zarathustra (Greek: Zoroaster), the history of the religion predates the prophet's birth by several thousand years. Much of this history is gleamed by an Epic (Shahnameh, meaning "Book of Kings") written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi who drafted the Epic under the patronage of the Samanid and Ghaznavid courts of Iran around 977 AD. Much of the information about the various dynasties of the Persian Kings (mentioned below) is procured from the Shahnameh. 

More information about the Shahnameh can be found here (courtesy Wikipedia) and here (courtesy heritageinstitue.com). 

A concise translation of the Shahnameh in English can be found here (courtesy Sattor.com)

More information about Ferdowsi can be found here (courtesy Wikipedia).  

For more information about the Prophet Zarathustra, please refer to the "Facts about Zarathustra" section of this website.

The first recorded mention of Iranians in history books is from the year 869 BC. Most scholars seem to settle on the date of Zarathushtra to be around 1200 BC. However, debate about when Zarathustra actually preached dates back as far as 6000 BC as well. The historians Plutarch and Diogenes believed Zarathustra lived 5000 years before the war of Troy (1184 bce). Plato and Aristotle dated him 6000 years before their time.  Below, the reader is given a glimpse of the key dynasties of the Zoroastrian period in Iran - as well as some key figures of those dynasties:

The Peshdadian Lineage is as follows:

The Kayanian Lineage is as follows:

The Achaeminid Lineage is as follows:

The Sassanian Lineage is as follows: