Editing Turan (section)

=== Ancient literature ===
==== Avesta ====
{{Main|Turya (Avesta)}}
The oldest existing mention of Turan is in the Farvardin ''[[yasht]]s'', which are in the [[Avestan#Forms and stages of development|Young Avestan]] language and have been dated by linguists to about 2500 years ago.<ref>Prods Oktor Skjærvø, "Avestan Quotations in Old Persian?" in S. Shaked and A. Netzer, eds., ''Irano-Judaica IV'', Jerusalem, 1999, pp. 1–64</ref> According to [[Gherardo Gnoli]], the ''Avesta'' contains the names of various tribes who lived in proximity to each other: "the [[Iranian peoples#Name|Airyas]] [Aryans], Tuiryas [Turanians], [[Sarmatians|Sairimas]] [Sarmatians], [[Sakas|Sainus]] [Sacae] and [[Dahae|Dahis]] [Dahae]".<ref name="ReferenceA">G. Gnoli, ''Zoroaster's time and homeland'', Naples 1980</ref> In the hymns of the ''[[Avesta]]'', the adjective ''Tūrya'' is attached to various enemies of [[Zoroastrism]] like Fraŋrasyan (Shahnameh: [[Afrasiab|Afrāsīāb]]). The word occurs only once in the ''[[Gathas]]'', but 20 times in the later parts of the ''Avesta''. The Tuiryas as they were called in Avesta play a more important role in the ''Avesta'' than the Sairimas, Sainus and Dahis. Zoroaster himself hailed from the Airya people but he also preached his message to other neighboring tribes.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref>M. Boyce, ''History of Zoroastrianism''. 3V. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991. (Handbuch Der Orientalistik/B. Spuler)</ref>

According to [[Mary Boyce]], in the Farvardin Yasht, "In it (verses 143–144) are praised the fravashis of righteous men and women not only among the Aryas (as the "Avestan" people called themselves), but also among the Turiyas, Sairimas, Sainus and Dahis; and the personal names, like those of the people, all seem Iranian in character".<ref>M. Boyce, ''History of Zoroastrianism''. 3V. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991. (''Handbuch Der Orientalistik''/B. Spuler)., pg 250</ref> Hostility between Tuirya and Airya is indicated also in the Farvardtn Yast (vv. 37-8), where the Fravashis of the Just are said to have provided support in battle against the Danus, who appear to be a clan of the Tura people.<ref>G. Gnoli, ''Zoroaster's time and homeland'', Naples 1980, pg 107</ref> Thus in the ''Avesta'', some of the Tuiryas believed in the message of Zoroaster while others rejected the religion.

Similar to the ancient homeland of Zoroaster, the precise geography and location of Turan is unknown.<ref>G. Gnoli, ''Zoroaster's time and homeland'', Naples 1980, pg 99–130</ref> In post-Avestan traditions they were thought to inhabit the region north of the [[Amu Darya|Oxus]], the river separating them from the Iranians. Their presence accompanied by incessant wars with the Iranians, helped to define the latter as a distinct nation, proud of their land and ready to spill their blood in its defense.<ref name="Ehsan Yarshater 1983">Ehsan Yarshater, "Iranian National History," in ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' 3(1)(1983), 408–409</ref> The common names of Turanians in Avesta and ''[[Shahnameh]]'' include Frarasyan,{{r|Yarshater1984_EI}} Aghraethra,{{r|Khaleghi1984_EI}} Biderafsh,{{r|Tafazzoli1989_EI}} Arjaspa{{r|Tafazzoli1986_EI}} Namkhwast.{{r|Tafazzoli1989_EI}} The names of Iranian tribes including those of the Turanians that appear in [[Avesta]] have been studied by [[Manfred Mayrhofer]] in his comprehensive book on Avesta personal name etymologies.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mayrhofer, Manfred |year=1977 |title=Iranisches Personennamenbuch |volume=I/1 – Die altiranischen Namen/Die Avestischen Namen |location=Vienna |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |language=de |pages=74f}} Reviewed in {{cite journal |author=Dresden, Mark J. |title=Iranisches Personennamenbuch |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |year=1981 |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=466 |doi=10.2307/601282 |jstor=601282}}</ref>

==== Sassanian Empire ====
From the 5th century CE, the [[Sasanian Empire]] defined "Turan" in opposition to "Iran", as the land where lay its enemies to the northeast.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila |first=Michael |last=Maas |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0dcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 |pages=284|isbn=9781316060858 }}</ref>

The continuation of nomadic invasions on the north-eastern borders in historical times kept the memory of the Turanians alive.<ref name="Ehsan Yarshater 1983" /> After the 6th century the Turks, who had been pushed westward by other tribes, became neighbours of Iran and were identified with the Turanians.<ref name="Ehsan Yarshater 1983" /><ref>{{cite book|first=R. |last=Frye |title=The Heritage of Persia: The pre-Islamic History of One of the World's Great Civilizations |publisher=World Publishing Company |location=New York |date=1963 |pages=41}}</ref> The identification of the Turanians with the Turks was a late development, possibly made in the early 7th century; the Turks first came into contact with the Iranians only in the 6th century.{{r|Yarshater1984_EI}}