First of all, I'd like to commend Taranaich for undertaking such an enormous project; The world of Conan has been a childhood hobby of mine, so I have always been somewhat infatuated with the different cultures that finds historical precedents. As someone who particularly finds fascination in Iranian culture (I hope I don't give it away too obviously ), I personally find both Turan and Iranistan to be based on colloquial Iranian culture; The former appears to be an amalgam between Sassanian and Ottoman grandeur, while the latter seems to be the "Classical Persian culture" in its representation of Anshan.
Ironically Robert E. Howard sprinkles many cultural imprints and impressions on very diverse cultures, and so the "Iranian-ness" turns into a merely fragmentary device (Ctesiphon, Hyrkania et al.), but Turan with its slightly Turcophone twist on Iranian conceptions and "common ancestry" to Hyrkania (Which finds its nearest historical relative to the Mongols), is a very strongly projected Persianate culture. The very name Turan itself is an Iranian concept, as are Khorosun, Shahpur, "Aghrapur" (Read: Naming convention), Yezdigerd (Yazdgerd/Izdegerdes) and Khawarism. Shem too has a few splashes of impressions (Akbitana... Obviously Ecbatana, Shushana... Susa)
That's my take on it, so for me the Iranian culture, much like the "Roman'esque division" a la Corinthia/Koth, I find Turan and Iranistan to be the two sides of the same coin, even though the canon would have them pitted as mortal enemies. This goes to show the huge source of inspiration history can be in the construct of fantasy as a genre.
Bookmarks