Richard Frye Although the Tura in the Avestan Age were most probably Iranian perhaps the memory of the struggles with aborigines played a part in the development of the epic  Later of course the Turks conveniently took the role of the great enemies of Iran  The extent of the influence of the Iranian epic is shown by the Turks who accepted it as their own history as well as that of Iran  The Turks were so much influenced by this cycle of stories that in the eleventh century AD we find the Qarakhanid dynasty in Central Asia calling itself the family of Afrasiyab and so it is known in the Islamic historyRN Frye The Heritage of Persia The preIslamic History of One of the Worlds Great Civilizations World Publishing Company New York  Pg