ABSTRACT
A religion is what it has become. Historians too often describe what the religion was at a given period in past history which they think represents the 'real' religion. Theologians commonly depict an idealistic picture of the 'true' faith and describe all variations as heresies or the falling away from 'the valid' or 'core' teaching as lesser manifestations of the religion. As in ancient times Zoroastrianism had evolved as it became the religion of three world empires, so too in the nineteenth century it grew to meet the new intellectual stimuli of life in the British Empire. It was inevitable that the westernising trend among Indian Zoroastrians at the turn of the century would provoke a conservative backlash. For many, what was termed 'the Protestant party' went much too far in rejecting respected traditions and cherished practices. Written expositions do not necessarily reflect the ideas of most Zoroastrians.
