Zoroastrians settle in North America

c. 1865 · New York (United States)

Parsi merchants, students, and travelers reach North America from the mid-nineteenth century, and small communities form in New York and other cities long before any temple stands. Their associations, prayer meetings, and newsletters are the seedbed of the organized diaspora, and in 1987 the associations unite as the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA).

Tagged: Zoroastrian Diaspora Zoroastrianism

The Event

Date
c. 1865 (approximate)
Era
Parsi India; Standard periodization of Zoroastrian history
Location
New York; today United States
Traditions
Zoroastrianism
Streams
Zoroastrian Diaspora

Connections

Primary Sources

  • The tradition's own record of the event.

Secondary Sources

  • Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge, 1979.
  • Choksy, Jamsheed K. Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
  • Encyclopaedia Iranica, entries on the Avesta, the Sasanians, and the Parsi calendar disputes.
  • Hinnells, John R. The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Rose, Jenny. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction. London: I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Provenance: HIST-1020; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-28.

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