Turan

Turan
Name	Turan
Aliases	Turan and the Eastern Empire, the Sunrise Empire, Turin
Status
Status	Defunct
Characteristics
Capital	Aghrapur
Demonym	Turanians or Turans
Currency	Turanian Imperial
Location Details
Reality	Earth-616
Galaxy	Milky Way
Star System	Sol
Planet	Earth
Continent	Hyboria
Region	Hyborian Lands
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Robert E. Howard
First	Conan the Barbarian #28 (April, 1973)
First	Conan the Barbarian #28 (April, 1973)

History

Origin

The founders of Turan were adventurers from Hyrkania, and the Turanians remained proud of their Hyrkanian heritage. Originally a minor state situated at the western shores of the Vilayet Sea, it grew to become a major empire.

Hyborian Age

By the time of Conan, Turan was in an expansion phase. The rulers of Brythunia, Shem, Koth, and Zamora all paid tribute to their eastern overlord. Its armies had threatened the borders of Corinthia, Hyperborea, Nemedia, Ophir, Stygia, and Vendhya. The entire Vilayet Sea, 2000 miles (3218.69 kilometers) in length and 300 miles wide (482.8 kilometers), had become the domain of the Turanian Navy.

Great War with Khitai

Turan entered at some point a conflict known as the "Great War with Khitai". Little is known of the conflict, apart that Amir of Khawarizm participated on the Turanian side, and that he hinted that the conflict caused massive casualties to the Khitans.

Yildiz's reign

While resting in a rain forest south of the Vilayet Sea, Conan was attacked by a lakhmu, a native giant reptile which was then killed by the Stygian Thutmekri, even though Conan himself got stuck in quicksand. The Cimmerian managed to drag himself out and came across the tortured Stygian, who told him about the religious idol he stole from Zembabwei and the Witch-Dancers sent to kill him. Conan then confronted the bearer M'Gorah, who was actually possessed by Thutmekri's enemy Dalboor, and eventually defeated the golden fanged ape Zemba itself, freeing Helgi.

After enlisting as a mercenary in the Turanian Army, Conan participated in the campaign against the rebel hill-men tribes, who ambushed his party, whittling them down to a handful of men. Captain Malthuz called for a retreat and the group took refuge in a cave. The hill-men trapped them inside, and offered a bargain: a Turanian champion will fight a hill-man to the death. Conan took Malthuz's place and eventually defeated their champion, who died buried by a landslide, so that the Turanians were allowed to leave in peace.

Back in Turan from Wan Tengri, Conan and Bourtai headed through the desert southeast of the Vilayet Sea, when they encountered a man hassled by bandits. They rode to the man's rescue, but were too late; with the man's dying breath he tells them about the Azure Eye, a great jewel from the city of Kara-Shehr. A sandstorm consumed them, and when it dispersed, they found the lost city and began searching through the ruins.

A short time later, while Conan and his Turanian party were escorting Princess Yolinda through the northern hills of Turan, they were attacked by rebel raiders. The raiders defeated them and brought them back to the Valley of the Sun.

Conan and Turghol returned to the Turanian Steppes joining the Bahari Kozaks, a mixed population of peasants and fugitives who was warring against the Turanian Army. As their village was accidentally set ablaze and their hetman killed, Conan was appointed as their new leader and traveled to the Turanian camp where the survived Kozak families were being kept. Imprisoned by Prince Yezdigerd, the Cimmerian managed to escape and free the prisoners by Tania, Turghol's wife. Returning to their burned out village, they were visited by a man from the Dyari Kozaks. As Conan offered him to join forces against the Turanian horde, the Free Companions and the Sword-Thief Isparana were spotted approaching from the steppes.

After killing Milo and imprisoning Zorka, Conan got the Free Companions by his side against the Turanian empire. Conan then brought together six tribes of Kozaks and reunited with his old friend Zula.

After he was reported that Grimm had assumed command of the Turanian troops on the steppes, Conan nearly blanched and remembered when he first met the hellish warrior, many years before in Cimmeria.

Conan then rode to Northern Turan in search of allies. Conan's forces were suddenly assaulted by the immense magical Hand of Nergal, which decimated them until turning back into mist and vanishing back toward Yaralet. He then allied with Hobar's Kezanks to join forces with Prince Thann of Yaralet against Turan.

Conan then returned to the Kozak camp with Red Sonja and Gonar. Confronted by several people who knew him well, the mirror-Conan told stories of their shared past to convince them of his true nature, but then mirror-Conan and Gonar exposed Fafnir's demon hand, making the Kozaks suspect him to be evil. With their suspicion aroused, mirror-Conan challenged Fafnir; they fought evenly, but when Fafnir recognized and began to voice that "Conan" and "Sonja" were using their opposite sword hands, mirror-Red Sonja stabbed Fafnir from behind, seemingly killing him.

Through this victory, mirror-Conan seemingly proved himself to be the Kozak's hitman, and he then grabbed Conan's woman, Roxelana, to prove himself to her through her other methods. Zula and Turgohl took Fafnir away to bury him, but he quickly revived due to the magical power running through his body. Fafnir shared the knowledge of "Conan" fighting with the wrong hand, strengthening Zula and Turgohl's suspicions, but then Gonar, having followed and listened to them, suspecting that Fafnir may not have perished, extracted their souls into one of his little mirrors, leaving their bodies apparently without life. Meanwhile, the real Conan and Sonja continued their trek back to the Kozak camp.

Once arrived, the real Conan and Red Sonja fought their mirrored counterparts; meanwhile, the souls of Fafnir, Turghol and Zula were reunited to their bodies and Tuzun Thune was eventually destroyed. Conan reunited with his wife and was once again acclaimed as the Kozak leader.

Some time later, Juma infiltrated the Kozak camp and persuaded Conan to look for Princess Yolinda in the city of Kherdpur.

Yezdigerd's reign

Yezdigerd eventually succeeded his father as king of Turan.

Facts

Economy

Turan maintained many important port cities, the most significant being its capital Aghrapur. Almost equal in fame is the trading city of Zamboula, the westernmost outpost of the Empire.

Zamboula

In Zamboula, a subordinate ruler reigned over a mixed populations of Stygians and Shemites. A slave force from Darfar continues to practice cannibalism. The Turanian marketplaces offer slaves from distant lands.

Criminal Activity

This proud empire still faces internal threats. There are pirate strongholds in the Vilayet, and Kozaki raiders prey on provincial cities. The government and military have repeatedly attempted to eliminate these groups to little lasting effect.

Cuisine

One of Turan's dishes was the Turanian kebab. Specialities in the Eastern Desert included flatbreads and a thin brew called Shaki.

Religion

In Zamboula, the lower classes worshiped Hanuman. A pagan sect in Zamboula had children strangled for holy sacrifice, presumably worshiping Yajur (see "Strabo's religion").

The name of Yenagra was invoked by Hamar Kur.

Horus was seemingly worshiped or at least acknowledged during the Hyborian Age circa 10,000 BC, by the people of an unnamed small city in the Eastern Desert of Turan, as one of them mentioned "the resurrection of Horus". All the inhabitants of this city were slain by Rune, the Dark God, whom they had come to revere as a god.

When the Turanian regiment of the outpost of Ashraf, mostly made of Hyrkanians, mutinied, they ceased the worship of Erlik and Tarim and return to the ways of their ancestors, including the worship of the White Wolf, a Pre-Cataclysmic Age deity worshiped in Zarfhaana. They formed the Sons of the White Wolf, and ravaged the countryside of Hyrkania.

Language

The people of Turan spoke Hyrkanian.

Points of Interest

• Aghrapur - Capital
  • Mound of the Moon
• Akif
• Ilbars River
• Kezankian Mountains
• Kharamun Desert
  • Zamboula
• Kherdpur
• Misty Mountains
  • City of Light
• Mount Yimsha
• River Nezvaya
• Turanian Steppes
• Valley of the Sun
• Yahlgan
• Yaralet
• Eastern Desert
  • Vezek - outpost and caravan toll
• Northern Turan
  • Fort Wakla
  • Gharat Temple

Residents

• Amir Saltim
• Bazil
• Commander Grimm
• Helgi
• Hobar
• Ilyan
• Issa
• Jehungir Agha
• Major Juma
• Kaidu
• Khovan
• M'Gorah
• Ogadai
• Roxelana
• Sablat
• Serena
• Shenkov
• Tania
• Thutmekri
• Toruk
• Turghol
• Vanov
• Yildiz - King of Turan (circa 10,000 BC°
• Yezdigerd III - King of Turan (circa 10,000 BC, son and successor of Yildiz)
• Xeres

See Also

• 81 appearance(s) of Turan
• 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Turan
• 3 minor appearance(s) of Turan
• 95 mention(s) of Turan
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Turan
• 1 image(s) of Turan
• 29 article(s) related to Turan
• 46 citizen(s) of Turan