It is now well-recognized that the Vaidik religion, called Hinduism, is closely related to the Avestan religion known as Zoroastrianism. The Avestan language has been known to be closer to Sanskrit than any Indian language including Hindi. The word Hindu itself is of Persian origin, being the name of the River Sindhu in that language. Similarly the name of their region, Eeraan, is derived from the Sanskrit Hiranya meaning Golden. To be sure the relationship was antagonistic and there was a lot of acrimony between the two peoples though both prided themselves in their Aryan origins. The Zoroastrians looked down upon the Vaidik peoples as the Devayaanee or worshippers of the Dev. (It means demons in Persian) The Hindu mythologists repaid the compliment naming several of their demonic characters, Hiranya. Hiranyaaksh (Golden eyed) was a demon killed by Vishnu and his brother Hiranyakashyap (Golden son of Kashyap) also met with a similar fate. The latter is perhaps to be identified with the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. (In Greek he was known as Cheops the builder of the great pyramid).

The Zoroastrians were also known as Mazda Yaasnee. Yaasnee is to be identified with the Sanskrit Yaajak the performer of a sacrifice or simply as a worshipper, a Yaajee. Islamic Haajee is perhaps derived from Yaaji.

Etymologically, Zoroaster would be related to the Hindu Manu Swaarochish of a previous Yug or epoch. The Manu of the present Yug is Swaayambhoo or self-created. He is also the son of Vivaswaan or the Sun God to be identified with the Zoroastrian Vivanghavant. The former begot the Hindu God of Dharm Yama (also considered the God of Death) Some scholars identify Zoroaster with the Hindu Bhrigu mainly on the strength of the latter's antagonism to the Hindu Gods, the Aaditya.

The Puraan throw interesting light on the origin of the religions in India, West Asia and Egypt. Atri was the son of the creator Brahmaa and was considered as one of the nine patriarchs of humanity. He was the younger sibling of the patriarch Daksh and is remembered by the Braahman in their daily prayers as the first of the seven Rishi or Sapt Rishi who are assigned a constellation in the sky. (Atri, Bhrigu, Kutsa, Vashishth, Gautam, Kashyap and Angiraa)

Som (Chandramaa) was Atri's son. Som is to be thought of as the founder of ancient Sumer with the capital at Ur. Som is also the Moon god. Som eloped with Taaraa the wife of Brihaspati who was the preceptor or priest of Hindu Gods, the Devtaa. Som was assisted by the priest of Asur (anti-gods) Usanaa.

Shaken by the fierceness of the ensuing war to retrieve Taaraa, Mother Earth petitioned Brahmaa for restoration of peace. He ordered the cessation of hostilities and restoration of Taaraa to Brihaspati. Tara was pregnant with Soma's child Budh who got his name from his brilliance at birth. The latter begot Pururavaa by Ilaa, the eighth child of Manu descended from Daksh thus uniting the two branches of the family that got separated earlier. Ilaa's brother was Ikshvaku the founder of the Soorya Vanshee line of the Indian kings (Raam was a scion of this line).

By implication, the West Asians and Iranians became Som Vanshee or descended from Som or the Moon. The crescent was to become the symbol even of Islaam.

Pururavaa is central to the interpretation of prehistory. He is to be identified with Paurushaasp the father of Zoroaster according to the Eeraanian mythology.

Pururavaa was seduced by Urvashee who was a resident (Vaasee) of Ur (Ur+Vashee), capital of Sumer. She came to live with her lover in Aaryaavart bringing two pet rams with her. Her people, the Gandharv did not approve of her act and got her back by a stratagem that involved the theft of her rams. She was allowed to visit Pururavaa once a year and presented him with a number of children.

Pururavaa pined for her permanent company. To satisfy the demands of the Gandharv he divided the Hindu Fire god, known as Agni, into three parts that are now known as Gaarhaspatya, Dakshinaayan, and Aahvaaneeya or house holder's, priestly, and sacramental fires respectively. These fires were transported across the mountains on the backs of Urvashee's rams and became the fires of the Paarsee. The ram became the mount for the fire God, Agni.

The Indo-Aaryans (Hindu) did not appreciate the action of Pururavaa. They considered it as an act of perfidy and cursed him even as he was acclaimed and given the status of divinity by the Persians. Significantly, the Paarsees also believed in three holy fires: the Farnbaug Fire of Kabul for the priestly class, the Gushnasp Fire at Shiz for the warrior class and the Burzen Mihir Fire for the working class. The Paarasee Fire temples are known as Agiaree. The closeness to Agni is clear. This episode supports my deduction that the method of making fire by friction in the wooden Arani was invented by the Hindu Aaryans. (A friend identified the inventor as Rishi Angiraa. It appears there is a passage in the Ved to that effect.) The method is used even today in the ritual Vaidik sacrifice called Yagya.

The implication of this is that human settlements must have started in Aaryaavart. Fire offered protection for the settlements against wild animals. It is not surprising that the Hindu Aaryans worship fire as a Purohit or foremost among well-wishers. (The Rig Ved dedicates its first hymn to Agni. (Agni meele purohitam...)

The rest of the Western peoples were descended from a scion of the Pururavaa clan, Yayaati. Through his first wife Devayaanee. Yayaati got Yadu who was the progenitor of Yahudee or the Jews. The second son of the couple was Turvasu whose descendants were Yavan or people of the Ionian region (Serbs and others) and the Turkish people. Yayaati's second wife was Sharmishthaa, daughter of Vrishparvaa who was a Daanav or a descendant of Danu, another daughter of Daksh. She had two sons. Her first son was Puru inherited Yayaati's throne. His descendants were known as Paurav in Sanskrit or the Pharaohs of Egypt. The second son of Sharmishthaa was Anu. His descendants ruled over Mesopotamia and were called Mlechchh by the Hindu Aaryans. Abhimelechcha is mentioned in the Bible. The essential point is that the two groups of stepchildren of Yayaati were antagonists. The Egyptians and the southern Greeks (of Greece and Anatolia) were known in Sanskrit as Daanav. The Romans also called the Greeks as Danao.

Note
Here seems a mistake - Yayaati had five sons - two sons from Devayaanee (Yadu and Turvasu) and three sons from Sharmishthaa (Druhyu, Anu, Puru).

This interpretation would place the Zoroastrian religion as older than all other religions of the region. Since Hindu mythology has something or other in common with ancient mythologies of the region Hinduism should be treated as the elder sibling of all the faiths of this region of the ancient world.