Editing Turan (section)

== Overview ==
[[File:Iran Turan map 1843.jpg|thumb|450px|German "Map of [[Iran]] and Turan", dated 1843 (during the [[Qajar dynasty]]), Turan territory indicated by orange line (here enhanced).

According to the legend (bottom right of the map), Turan encompasses regions including modern [[Uzbekistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], northern parts of [[Afghanistan]] and [[northern Pakistan]]. This area roughly corresponds to what is called [[Central Asia]] today.

List of the areas mentioned in the map as part of Turan: 1. [[Khwarazm]] 2. [[Bukhara]] with [[Balkh]] 3. [[Shahrisabz|Shehersebz]] (near [[Bukhara]]) 4. [[Hisor|Hissar]] 5. [[Kokand]] 6. [[Darvaz (region)|Durwaz]] 7. [[Karategin]] 8. [[Kunduz]] 9. [[Kafiristan]] 10. [[Chitral]] 11. [[Gilgit]] 12. [[Iskardu]] 13. [[Kyrgyzstan]] 14. The northern steppes ([[Kazakhstan]]).]]

In ancient Iranian mythology, Tūr or Turaj (''Tuzh'' in [[Middle Persian]])<ref>[[Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda|Dehkhoda]] dictionary: Turaj</ref>{{Better source needed|date=March 2021}} is the son of the emperor [[Fereydun]]. According to the account in the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', the nomadic tribes who inhabited these lands were ruled by Tūr. In that sense, the Turanians could be members of two Iranian peoples both descending from Fereydun, but with different geographical domains and often at war with each other.{{r|Yarshater2004_EI|Menges1989_EI}} Turan, therefore, comprised five areas: the [[Kopet Dag]] region, the [[Atrek]] valley, parts of [[Bactria]], [[Sogdia]] and [[Margiana]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective |last=Possehl |first=Raymond |year=2002 |publisher=Rowman Altamira Press |pages=276}}</ref>

A later association of the original Turanians with [[Turkic peoples]] is based primarily on the subsequent [[Turkification]] of Central Asia, including the above areas.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/firdausi/f52ek/part8.html |author=Firdawsi |title=The Epic of Kings |translator-first=Helen |translator-last=Zimmern |translator-link=Helen Zimmern |via=eBooks@Adelaide |date=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613012457/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/f/firdausi/f52ek/part8.html |archive-date=13 June 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Edgar Burke |last=Inlow |title=Shahanshah: A Study of the Monarchy of Iran |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Pub |date=1979 |pages=17 |quote=Faridun divided his vast empire between his three sons, Iraj, the youngest receiving Iran. After his murder by his brothers and the avenging Manuchihr, one would have thought the matter was ended. But, the fraternal strife went on between the descendants of Tur and Selim (Salm) and those of Iraj. The former – the Turanians – were the Turks or Tatars of Central Asia, seeking access to Iran. The descendants of Iraj were the resisting Iranians.}}</ref> According to [[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.&nbsp;E. Bosworth]], however, there was no cultural relationship between the ancient Turkic cultures and the Turanians of the [[Shahnameh]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bosworth |first=C. Edmund |year=1973 |chapter=Barbarian Incursions: The Coming of the Turks into the Islamic World |editor-last=Richards |editor-first=D.S. |title=Islamic Civilization |publisher=Oxford |page=2 |quote=Hence as Kowalski has pointed out, a Turkologist seeking for information in the Shahnama on the primitive culture of the Turks would definitely be disappointed. |chapter-url=http://www.medievalists.net/2009/01/barbarian-incursions-the-coming-of-the-turks-into-the-islamic-world/}}</ref>