Zoroastrianism has its myths too

Via Pocket, this piece from The Guardian illustrates.

First, yes, it is likely that IF Zoroaster existed, he probably lived closer to 1500 BCE than 600 BCE. However, per that IF? It's more likely yet that ... he's much more mythical than Jesus of Jesus mythicism or Buddha of Buddha mythicism. (Wikipedia's piece claims that some scholars put him back as long ago as 6000 BCE, which would only confirm that he didn't exist.)

Second, it's omitted that Zoroastrian scriptures didn't become written until Sassanid times. Just as we probably should speak of Vedic religion, not Hinduism, in the oral period of its transmission (and probably should speak of Brahmanism or something during the period from the writing of the Indian epics to the Gupta Empire and the triumph of what became Hinduism over Buddhism and Janism), so we need another term for pre-Sassanid Zoroastrianism, like Magism, or Mazdaism. (Before Ezra, scholars speak of Israelitism or Yahwism, not Judaism, so this is not unique to one or two religions. In Christianity, we have the term pre-Nicene Christianity. Chalcedon is a better cutoff, and a separate term would be better. It's a catch-all, and it's already used for a "heresy," but calling the whole earlier belief system "Arianism" would be accurate.)

Third and on to the Parsees of India, the focus of the piece. Did they really promise not to proselytize? Given that the first history of the Parsees was written 600 years after the first move to Gujarat, hard to say, isn't it? (This is similar to other insular religious minorities, such as Jews and Alawites, making similar claims. They usually have a degree of truth, but they're not 100 percent true.)

Fourth, the author claiming that Parsees were intransigent? Actually, they ditched much of their Zoroastrian caste system after moving to India. (Side note: Shows that maybe Zoroastrianism wasn't so enlightened after all, to have a caste system.)

The likely reality is that:
A. Zoroaster never existed.
B. The Gathas probably aren't as old as claimed, given that the Vedic Sanskrit which is the uncle of old Avestan lasted into the first century BCE.
C. One or more Mazdakite priests, parallel to Ezra, codified a mix of writings and oral poetic traditions, and the mythic personage of Zoroaster, in the early Achaemenid Empire. Darius or Xerxes would be likely target periods, and could then be inspiration for Ezra approximately a century later.
D. This religion then underwent a reform during Sassanid times. The reform was driven in two ways: the royal house saw a priesthood too independent and too powerful, parallel to how in Parthian times, often, the king was like a Holy Roman Emperor with unruly nobles; and, by internal cleansing.