Turya (Avesta) in the context of "Pan-nationalism"

Bactria (/ˈbæktriə/; Bactrian: βαχλο, Bakhlo), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian civilization in Central Asia, located in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the Hindu Kush mountains, within modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Bactria was strategically located south of Sogdia and west of the Pamir Mountains. These mountain ranges acted as "walls" protecting Bactria from three sides, with the Pamir mountains to the north and the Hindu Kush to the south forming a junction, and the Karakoram range towards the east.

Called "beautiful Bactria, crowned with flags" by the Avesta, the region is considered, in the Zoroastrian faith, to be one of the "sixteen perfect Iranian lands" that the supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, had created. It was once a small and independent kingdom struggling to survive against nomadic Turanians. One of the early centres of Zoroastrianism, and capital of the legendary Kayanian dynasty, Bactria is mentioned in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great as one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire; it was a special satrapy, ruled by a crown prince or an intended heir. Bactria was the centre of Iranian resistance against the Greek Macedonian invaders after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century BC, but eventually fell to Alexander the Great.

Turan (Avestan: Tūiriiānəm; Middle Persian: Tūrān; Persian: توران, romanized: Turân, pronounced [tʰuːˈɾɒːn], lit. 'The Land of Tur') is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of the Avestan age.

Tur (/ˈtʊər/; Persian: تور, pronounced [tʰuːɾ]) is a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh. He is the second son of the legendary Iranian king Fereydun and brother of both Salm and Iraj. His name, meaning "brave", was given to him by his father when the young prince bravely fights the dragon that had attacked him and his brothers. When Fereydun divides his empire among his sons, he gives Turkistan and China to his second son Tur. This is the beginning of the Turanians, the neighbor and rival of the Iranians. Some of the most important characters of Shahnameh, such as Afrasiab, are his descendants. He was killed by Manuchehr.

Manūchehr [mænuː'tʃer] (Persian: منوچهر, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱𐬗𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 Manuščiθra), is the eighth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to Shahnameh. He is the first of the legendary Iranian Shahs who ruled Iran after the breakup of the world empire of Manūchehr's great-grandfather, Fereydūn.

Manūchehr was the grandson of Iraj, who was the son of Fereydūn, and he avenged the death of Īrāj at the hands of Fereydūn's other two sons, Salm and Tur. From the death of Tūr in Manūchehr's war of vengeance sprang a war between the Iranians and Turanians that would last for centuries, until the reign of Kai Khosrow.