Localization of Avestan oronims "mountains of Hara brzaitim" according to study of fire cult

Purpose. Fire cult played a major role in the life of ancient Iranians. This is evidenced by Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism - the religion professed by ancient Iranian peoples. It kept information not only about history, culture and mythology of the Iranian people, but also on the historical geography of Central Asia in ancient times. In the Avesta it was observed the relationship of historical events with toponyms, hydronyms, and oronyms, also names of countries are mentioned there. Identification of many Avestan place names still remains controversial. Among these are mountains of Harā bərəzaitim. Pay attention to the role of the cult of fire in solution of the problem of localization of mountains of Harā bərəzaitim. Having use the archaeological and ethnographical materials observe how the fire is reflected in these materials and how it is connected with localization of the mountains of Harā bərəzaitim. Results. Two early medieval fire temples Kafyrkala I-IV were found in Shugnan district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous oblast (province) in the West Pamirs and one was excavated in Bazar-Dara, the site of the 11 th century in Murgab district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous oblast in the East Pamirs. In spite of the fact that the planning of the temples Kafyrkala I-IV does not conform to the planning of canonical Sassanid’s Zoroastrian fire temples, their planning and architecture are undoubtedly connected with the cult of fire, because these buildings have the hearth in the center of hall. The existence of the fire temples in the Pamirs indicates that the fire was one of the important elements in religious beliefs of ancient inhabitants of this mountain region. To its planning the temple at the site of Bazar-Dara corresponds to practice the Zoroastrian ceremonies connected with the fire worship. The ethnographical material showed that pre Islam religious beliefs, exactly Zoroastrian, are preserved in many fields of culture and daily life of the mountain Tajiks to our time. Especially it is the worship of fire which noticeable in wedding, death and funeral ceremonies. The funeral ritual of the mountain Tajiks also corresponds to some funeral rites of modern Zoroastrians. The Zoroastrian rite «lifetime funeral repast» (zinda dav’at - zinda ravān) is observed among the Tajiks not only of mountain regions but in valley. This rite is partially coincided with the same ritual of Parsees in India as well. For the first time the Russian scholars of the beginning of the XX th century indicated that the ancestors of the Tajiks were the fire worshippers. Conclusion. Comparative analysis of the Avesta and other Zoroastrian written sources (Pahlavi literature), archaeological (fire temples) and ethnographic materials (funeral and wedding ceremonies) from the territory of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous oblast of Tajikistan, as well as the customs of modern Zoroastrians (funeral rites) and information from Russian scientists allowed to reiterate the point of view of the identification of the mountains of Harā bərəzaitim with Tien Shan - Pamir - Hindu Kush system.