A literary history of Persia

28 INTRODUCTORYhas endeavoured to showpopulaire des Afghans, pp. Ixii-lxv),that the Pashto or Pakhto language of Afghanistan representsthe chief surviving descendant of the old Avestic tongue, whichtheory seems to militate against the view set forth in his EtudesIraniennes. It iscompatible ;possible, however, that the two are reallythat Zoroaster, of the Medic tribe of the Magians(Magush), brought his doctrine from Atropatene (Azarbayjan)in the extreme north-west of Iran to Bactria in the extremenorth-east, where he achieved his first signal success by convertingKing Vishtaspa (Gushtasp) that the;dialects ofAtropatene and Bactria, and, indeed, of all North Iran, werevery similar and that;in the Avesta, as suggested by DeHarlez, the so-called Gatha dialect represents the latter, andthe ordinary Avestic of the Vendidad the former. All this,however, is mere conjecture, which at best can only beregarded as a plausible hypothesis.It is not less difficult to speak with certaintyas to thereligion of the Medes than as to their language ; nay, in spiteof their numerous inscriptions it has not yet beenR lifthe! anc"entdecided whether or no the Achsemenians whoZoroufeir.succeeded them did or did not hold the faith ofZoroaster, as to whose personality, date, andnative land likewise the most various opinions have beenemitted. By some the very existence of a historical Zoroasterhas been denied ; by others his personality has been foundclearly and sharply revealed in the Gathas, which they hold tobe, if not his actual utterances, at least the words of hisimmediate disciples. By some his date has been fixed in theVedic period 1,800, 2,000, even 6,000 yearsbefore Christ,while by others he isplaced in the seventh century B.C.By some he is, as we have seen, regarded as of Bactria, in theextreme north-east of Persia, by others of Atropatene, in theextreme north-west. So too with the Avesta, the sacredscripture of his adherents,which Darmesteter in his Tra-4i(ction nouvelle (dnnales du Musee Gulmet^ vols. xxi-xxiv,