The advent of Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan is lost in time. THE Zoroastrians of Kurdistan, also known as Yazidis, march annually to Kizkapan on the 21st Kharmanan. Torch in hand, they walk to the cave which holds the shrine of Daiko, the founder of the Mir State and the grand sire of the great Kai-Khushroo of the Meadean Empire. At the end of the march, they reiterate their pledge to uphold the tenets of love and co-existence which they believe to be the central tenets of their faith — Zoroastrianism.

They re-pledge their love to Ahura Mazda, to Zardast (as they call Zoroaster), to each other (as you see the cute re-pledging of her love by the lady in the video to her husband) and to all humanity. This day of the renewal of the pledge is called the feast of promise.

As they reiterate their commitment to love and peaceful co-existence the Zoroastrians of Kurdistan hold fire in their palms, as seen in the video.

The march and the feast are celebrated to spread the message of peaceful coexistence to all humanity.

The Zoroastrians of Kurdistan have been targeted by many Muslims (including the advancing militants overrunning Iraq in the present day) as heretical devil worshippers. Over the centuries these Zoroastrians have faced the possibility of genocide many many times.

Iraq has an estimated 500,000 Zoroastrians. They fear the end of their people and their religion under the present circumstances in Iraq. “Sinjar is (hopefully not was) home to the oldest, biggest, and most compact Yazidi community,” says Khanna Omarkhali, a Yazidi scholar at the University of Göttingen. “Extermination, emigration, and settlement of this community will bring tragic transformations to the Yazidi religion,” she adds.

The Zoroastrians of Kurdistan, the Yazidis, though considered Zoroastrians, differ in some of their beliefs. They believe in God as the creator of the world and are monotheists; but they further believe that God placed his creation under the care of seven holy beings or angels lead by the chief of angels, Malik Taus (the Peacock Angel), Malik Taus as ruler of the world causes good and bad to befall humanity. This ambivalence in his character is reflected in myths of his fall from grace and tearful reconciliation with his Maker.

While the Yazidi faith is often believed to be a form of Zoroastrianism, with its light/dark duality and sun worship (their shrines are decorated with the sun and graves lie eastward towards the rising sun); recent studies indicate that they share many elements with Islam and Christianity. In fact, the name they call themselves, ‘Daasin’ (‘Dawasin’ in plural), is the name of an old Nestorian Diocese (an ancient Christian Church from the East).