Editing Calormen (section)

==History==
The country of Calormen was first mentioned by Lewis in a passing reference in chapter 2 of ''[[Prince Caspian]]'', though in the first edition it was spelt ''Kalormen''.  He first wrote about Calormene characters in the subsequent ''[[Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'', though neither of these is their first chronological appearance in the series. They are presented with the following words: "The Calormenes have dark faces and long beards. They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans, and they are a wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient people". As narrated in that book, after the Telmarine kings cut Narnia off from the sea, the [[Lone Islands]]—though in theory remaining a Narnian possession—fell into the Calormene sphere of influence, becoming a major source of slaves for Calormen and adopting the Calormene Crescent as the islands' currency. After [[Prince Caspian (character)|Caspian the Seafarer]] restored Narnian rule and abolished slavery in the islands, there was some apprehension of Calormen resorting to war to regain its influence there. The book's plot then moves away and it remains unknown whether such a war took place. However, Lewis later placed Calormen at the focus of ''[[The Horse and His Boy]]''—set a thousand years earlier, at the time of High King [[Peter Pevensie|Peter]].

The origins of Calormen and the Calormenes are not made clear during the ''Chronicles''. According to the [[Narnia_(world)#Fictional_timeline|Narnian timeline]] published by [[Walter Hooper]], Calormen was founded by Archen outlaws, who traveled over the Great Desert to the south some 24 years after Archenland's founding. In an alternative theory, Calormen was founded by people accidentally crossing into Calormen from our world through a Middle Eastern portal (similar to the English wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe), which was subsequently lost or destroyed, preventing their return. The Calormenes speak a flowery version of the [[English language|standard English]] favoured by both human and animal Narnians, which might support this argument; however, [[White Witch|Jadis]] also speaks English. The reason for the ancient Arabian, [[Persian people|Persian]], [[Moors|Moorish]], [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkish]] aspects of Calormene culture, or the origin of their religion, was not satisfactorily explained, but stand in strong counterpoint to the largely [[Europe]]an, [[Anglo]] and [[Greco-Roman]] (and Christian) aspects of Narnia and Archenland.

Throughout the times covered by the ''Chronicles of Narnia'', Calormen and Narnia maintain an uneasy, albeit generally peaceable, coexistence. ''[[The Horse and His Boy]]'' and ''[[The Last Battle]]'' contain plot lines that focus on Calormen, while some of the other books have peripheral references. In ''The Horse and His Boy'' the main characters (one a young member of the Calormene nobility) escape from Calormen to Archenland and Narnia whilst the Calormene [[cavalry]] under [[Prince Rabadash]] attempts to invade [[Narnia (country)|Narnia]] and capture the Narnian [[Susan Pevensie|Queen Susan]] for his bride. The rather small (200 horse) Calormene invasion force is rebuffed at the gates of the Kingdom of Archenland. In ''The Last Battle'', there is a reference to King [[List of characters in The Chronicles of Narnia|Erlian]] having fought a war with the Calormenes. King [[Tirian]] is—until the events narrated in the book—at peace with them, and some level of trade and travel exist between [[Narnia (country)|Narnia]] and Calormen. The Narnian King maintains a supply of Calormene armour and weapons for the purpose of conducting undercover operations in their country—suggesting a kind of [[Cold War|cold war]].

Calormenes are described as dark-skinned, with the men mostly bearded. Flowing robes, [[turban]]s and [[wooden shoe]]s with an upturned point at the toe are common items of clothing, and the preferred weapon is the [[scimitar]]. Lavish palaces are present in the Calormene capital [[Tashbaan]]. The overall leitmotif of Calormene culture is portrayed as ornate to the point of ostentation. The people of Calormen are concerned with maintaining honour and precedent, often speaking in maxims and quoting their ancient poets. Veneration of elders and absolute deference to power are marks of Calormene society. Power and wealth determine class and social standing, and slavery is commonplace. The unit of currency is the [[Crescent]]. Narnians hold Calormenes in disdain for their treatment of animals and slaves. Conversely, Calormenes refer to the human inhabitants of Narnia as "barbarians". All of this appears quite consistent with the [[Osmanli]] [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[Ottoman Empire]] (1299-1923), its known and purported splendor, rigid class structure, and the always-volatile relationship with many of its European neighbors.

The ruler of Calormen is called the Tisroc and is believed by the Calormene people to have descended in a direct line from the god [[Tash (Narnia)|Tash]], whom the people worship in addition to other gods and goddesses. The illustrations of Tash, a [[vulture]] headed god, by [[Pauline Baynes]] appear to be inspired by [[Hindu]] as opposed to Islamic imagery, with multiple arms and a distinct resemblance to the ancient Indian deity [[Garuda]]. Calormenes always follow a mention of the Tisroc with the phrase "may he live forever". Ranking below the Tisroc are his sons (princes), a Grand Vizier, and the noble classes, who are addressed as Tarkaan (male) and Tarkheena (female). The nobility have a band of [[gold]] on their arm and their marriages are usually arranged at a young age. Beneath them are soldiers of the empire's vast army, merchants, and the peasantry, with slaves being the lowest rung on the social ladder. The Calormene leaders are portrayed as quite war-like, and the Tisrocs generally seem to have a wish to conquer the "barbarian" lands to their north - to some degree deterred, however, by the magical reputation of the countries, their various rulers and their being known to be under the protection of [[Aslan]]. Significantly, the final, successful invasion of Narnia by the Calormene military, which precipitates the end of the Narnian universe, was conducted in close cooperation with the appearance of the false Aslan and the proclamation that Aslan and Tash are one and the same.

Calormene social and political institutions are depicted as essentially unchanged between the time of ''The Horse and His Boy'' and ''The Last Battle''—more than a thousand years, in which Narnia has profoundly changed several times. This is clearly an artifact of the order in which [[C. S. Lewis]] wrote and published the stories, with the two stories above and [[The Magician's Nephew]] which also references ancient Mesopotamian civilisation in its depiction of Queen Jadis and [[Charn]], appearing last three of the seven.

When at the end of ''The Last Battle'' the characters cross into the Real Narnia and find there the counterparts of all the places they had known in the destroyed Narnia, there is a reference to a counterpart of Calormen being also there to its south, complete with the capital Tashbaan—presumably without the nastier aspects of Calormene culture, but this is not discussed in detail.