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Azar Kayvan | |
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آذر کیوان | |
| Born | between 1529 and 1533 |
| Died | between 1609 and 1618 |
| Other names | Zu'l-'Olum (master of the sciences) |
| Parent(s) | Azar Zerdusht (father)[1] Shirin (mother) |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Āzar Kayvān[a] (b. betweenc. 1529 and 1533;d. betweenc. 1609 and 1618) was theZoroastrianhigh priest ofIstakhr and agnostic philosopher,[2] who was a native ofFars,Iran and later emigrated toPatna in theMughal Empire during the reign of EmperorAkbar. A member of theSepāsīān community (gorūh),[3] he became the founder of a Zoroastrian school ofIshraqiyyun orIlluminationists, which exhibited features ofSufi Muslim influence. This school became known as theKis-e-Abadi "Abadi sect"[4] orAzarkeivanian.
Details regarding Azar Kayvan's life are scant and are mainly derived from thehagiographical literature of the Abadi sect. This hagiography places Azar Kayvan, son of Azar Gashasb, and his ancestry back toSasan V[b] then throughSasan to theKayanian dynasty,Keyumars, and finally toMahābād, the primordial figure who appeared at the very beginning of the great cycle of prophecy, according to theDasatir-i-Asmani, and who seems to be none other thanAdam.[3] His mother was namedShirin; her ancestry goes back toPhilosopher King Khosrow I.[3]
According to theDabestan-e Mazaheb, Azar Kayvan showed signs of his calling to the contemplative life as a young boy. Through dreams and visions he received the teaching of the ancient sages ofIran, which allowed him to give extraordinary replies to questions which were asked of him at themadrasa where he was a student, and which won him the nicknameḏū l-ʿulūm "master of the sciences". Internal references in the biography by his devotees allow us to determine that his residence was at Itakhr (about a hundred kilometers north ofShiraz), where he spent the first thirty or forty years of his life in contemplation and where he assembled his first assembly of disciples. Around 1570, drawn by the religious revival which was taking place in India around the Emperor Akbar, he left with them to settle down in the town ofPatna inBihar, where he lived until he died at around eighty-five years of age.[3]
Amongst his students, certain of these hagiographical sources place keyTwelver Shi'a theosophical figures of theSafavid philosophical revival atIsfahan within his circle. Notably among these figures wasBaha' al-Din al-'Amili andMir Fendereski, on whose behest the latter seems to have translated theYoga Vasistha fromSanskrit intoPersian.
Azar Keyvan had tendency towards the philosophical school ofShihab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi, anotherPersian philosopher of 12th century. He was regarded by his followers to be the reviver ofIlluminationism (Illuminationist Philosophy) within the context ofZoroastrianism.[2]
According to one school of thought,DasturMeherji Rana, who had influencedAkbar and founded the famous lineage ofParsi high priests atNavsari, was a disciple of Azar Kayvan.[5][better source needed]
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