Gayomarthians

The Gayomarthians are not a mythic or supernatural origin tale but a doctrinal formation named for Gayomard (Gayomarth, Kayumarth), the primeval man of Zoroastrian tradition. Medieval and later Muslim- and Persian-language historiographers list them among intra‑Zoroastrian sects (alongside groups like the Mazdakites and Zarvanites). Modern summaries (e.g., M. N. Dhalla) present the Gayomarthian position as a theological attempt — articulated within the Islamic-period discourse — to reconcile or mitigate Zoroastrian metaphysical dualism by locating the origin of the hostile principle in a lapse or ‘‘doubt’’ on the part of Ahura Mazda rather than in an independent, co-eternal being.

As a doctrinal grouping, the Gayomarthians have no physical or visible appearance in the folkloric sense. Sources stress that the name derives from Gayomard, the primeval human, signaling a claim to ideological continuity with foundational mythic figures rather than describing an embodied supernatural agent. Medieval catalogues and later historians refer to them as a named sect (Kayumarthiya/کیومرثیان) within the landscape of Zoroastrian communal divisions.

The Gayomarthians' 'ability' is theological: their doctrine reframes the cosmological relationship between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman by asserting that Ahriman originated from Ahura Mazda's doubt or mental event, effectively treating the adversary as a creation or derivative of the primary divinity. This doctrinal move functions to reduce strict dualism and to present a more unitary account of ultimate reality, a response described by modern commentators as motivated in part by Islamic-era critiques of Zoroastrian dualism.