A Parsi Times reader recently requested me to write about Dastur Azar Kaiwan, the enigmatic sixteenth century mystic saint who made Patna in India his spiritual base during the sixteenth century when the Mughals were in power. The reader asked me three pointed and fundamental questions: Was Azar Kaiwan a Zoroastrian? Was he a Dastur? Was his philosophy in tune with mainstream Zoroastrian theology, doctrine and belief?

Unfortunately, details regarding Azar Kaiwan’s life are scant and are derived mainly from the hagiographical literature of the Abadi sect. However, noted oriental scholar, Er. Dr. Sir Jivanji Modi, in a paper presented before the Sixth Oriental Conference in Patna, on 18^th December, 1930 (subsequently also published, along with his other papers, in a book titled ‘Oriental Conference Papers’) gives us a more objective glimpse into the life of this saintly personage believed to be of Zoroastrian descent.

Azar Kaiwan Azar Gushasp Zardushi was born around 1533 in Istakhar village, near Shiraz, Iran. Azar is the Islamic counterpart of Adar, which represents fire. Kaiwan is Persian for the planet Saturn. llm-e-Kshnoom followers claim he was an evolved mystic master who voluntarily left his abode in Mount Damavand to lead humanity towards salvation. According to Dabistan (a controversial book considered forgery by most scholars), he was the descendent of the Royal Peshdad family of Shah Jamsheed and Shah Faridoon as also Shah Gushtasp and Shah Lohrasp of the Kaeyan dynasty. His mother Shireen belonged to the family of Noshirwan-e- Adil (Sasan dynasty).

He had an ascetic bent of mind from early childhood. From age five he would engross himself in meditation and lead a frugal lifestyle. His daily intake of food was just an ounce. He is said to have meditated for twenty-eight years sitting in a Khum (Persian metallic jar). A strict vegetarian, he instructed his followers to abstain from eating meat.

Azar Kaiwan came to India from Iran with twelve disciples. He first came to Surat moving on to Navsari and then to Patna, which became his main spiritual centre. India was under the Mughal Sultanate then. It is said that since he did not accept emperor Akbar’s invitation to his court, Akbar decided to go and meet him at Patna.

Mystics like Dastur Azar Kaiwan seem to have grasped the divine essence and enjoyed the blessedness of communion with the ultimate reality or the awareness of the truth. His disciples spread far and wide. However, the chosen few lived in seclusion with him. Azar Kaiwan believed that ‘worldly knowledge,’ no matter how vast and varied, was not true knowledge. It is spiritual awareness that brings wisdom, peace and salvation for the soul. He instructed his disciples who belonged to different religions to remain faithful to their own faith. The ethics of living, which he advocated, were universal in nature and open for all humanity to follow.

Spiritual Powers

Azar Kaiwan and some of his close disciples had amazing spiritual powers acquired through their constant devotion to God and service to humanity. They could easily read other people’s thoughts, walk over water and fire, heal the sick, change ordinary metals to gold (alchemy) and disappear at will. Azar Kaiwan was particularly famous for his power of bilocation or the power of bodily being in two or more places at the same time, with the power of his thought forces. Astral projections of his thought forces at times could manifest in as many as nine places.

Amazing and extraordinary as these miracles may appear, the famous English Scientist, Alfred Russell, believed, ‘a miracle is nothing but certain Laws of Nature which we neither know nor understand.’ Mystics like Dastur Azar Kaiwan, Dastur Meherji Rana and Dastur Kukadaru understood and knew these Laws of Nature and used them for good purposes. Both Dastur Meherji-Rana and Dastur Kukadaru are believed to have been devotees of Azar Kaiwan. While the former had called the bluff of a magician who claimed creating two suns in the sky, the latter performed the miracle of alchemy and created gold to fund the establishment of the Anjuman Atash Behram in Mumbai. Both stories are well-known within the community.

Drift from mainstream Zoroastrian thought

Azar Kaiwan was the founder of the Ishraqiyyun (Illumination) school of thought which later came to be known as Kis-e-Abadi or the Abadi sect. This sect however appears to exhibit strong Sufi rather than Zoroastrian influence. Azar Kaiwan also comes across as a gnostic who emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) as the path to salvation, rather than traditional religious practices or authority. Gnosticism posits that the material world is inherently flawed, and that salvation comes from discovering a divine spark within oneself and escaping this material realm.

Azar Kaiwan and his followers were proponents of riazat or abstinence and austerity, a way of life that is not in sync with mainstream Zoroastrian theology. The Kaiwani philosophy of asceticism, austerity, self-mortification, fasting, abstinence, celibacy and reincarnation of the soul are all alien to the core of Zoroastrian belief and practice.

Controversial Texts

The Dabistan-i Mazahib is a book that discusses various religions, including Zoroastrianism, while the Dasatir is a collection of texts, some of which are claimed to be ancient Zoroastrian scriptures, and which were used as a source by the authors of the Dabistan. Both these texts trace their roots to the time when the mystical movement was initiated by Azar Kaiwan.

According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Dasatir the most important text of the Azar Kaiwan sect and almost certainly the work of its founder, Azar Kaiwan, is written in an “invented language” and “includes accounts of events that have no historical basis.” Scholars like Henry Corbin and others too have concluded that it is a forgery. The text contains Neoplatonic ideas influenced by the Persian philosopher Yahya Ibn Habash Suhrawardi and has little connection with mainstream Zoroastrianism.

While the Dabistan is not as definitively labelled a forgery as the Dasatir, the Dabistan has also faced scholarly criticism for inaccuracies, particularly regarding its portrayal of Islam. Scholars have pointed out distortions, fabrications, and even outright lies within the text’s discussion of Islamic topics.

Dastur Azar Kaiwan is believed to have passed away at age eighty-five, buried in Patna. His relics are supposedly preserved in the Azim Abad village, 10 miles from Patna. His disciples continue to carry out their work in seclusion and generally communicate only with those who have been initiated into the ‘inner circle.’

To the three fundamental questions asked by the reader, my response with all due respect is as follows:

Q 1. Was Azar Kaiwan a Zoroastrian? Yes, he does appear to be of Zoroastrian descent from Iran.

Q 2. Was he a Dastur? Early Persian texts do not refer to him as a Dastur. However, later Gujarati texts refer to him as a Dastur. In other words, this title seems to have been bestowed upon him by some writers in their narrative and not by the community or any Zoroastrian religious institution.

Q 3. Was his philosophy in tune with mainstream Zoroastrian theology, doctrine and belief? No. His teachings do not appear to be in tune with mainstream Zoroastrian theology, doctrine and belief. However, many, especially the followers of Ilm-e-kshnoom, would like to think and believe that what he taught was the occult and mystical side of Zoroastrianism.

In our opinion, to each their own faith and belief!