Latest time when Iran/Persia could stay a predominantly Zoroastrian country?

What is the latest point of time when Iran/Persia could remain or return to being a predominantly Zoroastrian country? Could the Safavid dynasty, if they had wanted, have converted the country to Zoroastrianism instead of Shia-Islam?
 
What is the latest point of time when Iran/Persia could remain or return to being a predominantly Zoroastrian country? Could the Safavid dynasty, if they had wanted, have converted the country to Zoroastrianism instead of Shia-Islam?

Potentially till today, unless Turks, Mesopotamian Nestorians or Orthodox Romans takeover, if you choose to kill or curb Islam. And considering the Safavids were Muslims, and Persia was already Zoroastrian, why would they do that?
 
There was a Zoroastrian kingdom that held out in the mountainous north for about a century after the Islamic conquest. I don't know how, or if, it could expand to the rest.
 
Potentially till today, unless Turks, Mesopotamian Nestorians or Orthodox Romans takeover, if you choose to kill or curb Islam. And considering the Safavids were Muslims, and Persia was already Zoroastrian, why would they do that?

My point here was the latest possible POD to keep or return Iran to a Zoroastrian majority population. Obviously, if the Arabs never conquered Iran, it could possibly remain Zorooastrian. My point here, however, was to inquire what would be the latest possible POD.
 
Sacking of Baghdad taken as a sign that Islam is no longer favored, a native Persian dynasty rises with strong commercial ties to the Parsi of India eventually marrying one and Zoroastrianism filters into the populace as a plurality religion with time?
 
Sacking of Baghdad taken as a sign that Islam is no longer favored, a native Persian dynasty rises with strong commercial ties to the Parsi of India eventually marrying one and Zoroastrianism filters into the populace as a plurality religion with time?

How is a Persian dynasty going to arise in the 1200s when Islam was the majority religion of Iran? It was about 80% Muslim by the end of the eleventh century. Kind of hard to do that.
 
Khorzan was still Parsi about this time, there are plenty of families who might step up under the right circumstances. Also if Timur decides that Islam is nice but something more unique might make him fit his Persian and Turkish subjects more maybe under the wrong set of circumstances he converts, especially as a concept of "holy fire" could be used for all sorts of atrocities that Zoroastrianism never intended.
 
Khorzan was still Parsi about this time, there are plenty of families who might step up under the right circumstances. Also if Timur decides that Islam is nice but something more unique might make him fit his Persian and Turkish subjects more maybe under the wrong set of circumstances he converts, especially as a concept of "holy fire" could be used for all sorts of atrocities that Zoroastrianism never intended.

What would possess Timur out of all people to convert to Zoroastrianism? The moment that he converts is the moment he can kiss his throne goodbye and become a historical footnote. Islam by the 9th century wasn't perceived as a foreign faith but as part of Persian identity. The man credited his military and political victories to Allah, not to any other deity. His advisors were all Islamic (Sunni) scholars. Converting to a dying religion would stand against everything that Timur was as a person.
 
His exact beliefs are actually unknown except that he would use them to justify whatever he was trying to do at the time. Although it appears he favored Shi'a, there is evidence he had at least some traditional or animist beliefs when it suited him. The cultural concept of a conqueror of Islamic lands being "favored" played into his goals nicely, as did the use of Mongol or Turkic traditions when needed. Had there been a reason to do so, Timur might have converted to something else, the question becomes what that reason would be. And again, I do not suggest a conversion for the rest of the nation happens overnight or even within a generation, but over several.
 
What would possess Timur out of all people to convert to Zoroastrianism? The moment that he converts is the moment he can kiss his throne goodbye and become a historical footnote. Islam by the 9th century wasn't perceived as a foreign faith but as part of Persian identity. The man credited his military and political victories to Allah, not to any other deity. His advisors were all Islamic (Sunni) scholars. Converting to a dying religion would stand against everything that Timur was as a person.

Also aside from everything else; Timur was a bigot. He hated other religions from Islam and made an active attempt to extinguish the non-islamic religions of Persia during his conquest. The man seems like the least likely convert possible.
 
A native recolt kicks off better within the first few centuries. They happened quite abit. Maybe if the Caliphate hadnt had their shit together just enough for the Persians to roll back.
 
Well, the simplest solution is to have the country never be conquered by the Arabs in the first place. This was not necessarily an inevitability.
 
Well, the simplest solution is to have the country never be conquered by the Arabs in the first place. This was not necessarily an inevitability.

OTL, the Arabs offered a peace treaty to the Sassanids after conquering Iraq, but the emperor declined; the commercial heart of Persia was in Iraq, after all. It would be interesting if maybe the Sassanid emperor does sign the treaty for some reason, is inevitably deposed by disgruntled nobles, and is replaced by a new Persian dynasty. This dynasty would be in no place to try to retake Iraq, so it would probably steer clear of provoking the Arabs. Also, it would rule over an overwhelmingly Zoroastrian population, as most of the Christians in Persia were in Iraq. Even then, if the new dynasty doesn't try to retake Iraq, they still may have to deal with Arab aggression at a later date, but they would be in a much better position to resist them.
 
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