Turkmens came first to the region at the time of their forefathers, the Seljuk Turks, thought early nomads empires has existed since the early age of Massagets or even earlier. According to the Avesta Afrasiyab the legendary king of Turan hailed from Turkmen Sahra.

Before the era of Reza Khan, later Reza Shah, there was a landmass from Khiva in north to Bandar gaz in south were Turkmens inhabited the area was called Turkmenistan. Due to the Great Game and famous resistance of Turkmens to great powers as czar Russia and England Turkmens lost their independence and their country was split in two lands. After the Battle of Geok Tepe over one million Turkmens fled through Iran over to Afghanistan were their descents still live today. The first time in history Turkmens had shown resistance to central authority of Iran was in early 1920 when Reza Khan unified Iran he meet resistance of a Turkmen group and a leader called Anna-Geldi Ach, the later used to deploy sneak attacks from Turkmen Sahra and use hit and run tactics and hide into modern Turkmenistan before SSR Turkmen was formed. During that time a gurultai like the ones Gökturks held was held to elect a mullah as their leader, called Osman Akhun. It is the first democratically modern Turkmen assemblement ever hold. Turkmens are considered by outsiders who visited their area to be generous, kind-hearted thought even having the trait of being hot-headed. Ahmad Shamlou, a famous Persian writer, wrote a novel about a Turkmen character, Amin. He also indicated the generosity and kind-hearted spirit of the Turkmens in his poem about Amin.

Famous Turkmens from within Turkmen Sahra include the spiritual leader, national poet and unifier of Turkmen society Magtymguly Pyragy, who was born in a village outside Gonbad. The central Iranian authorities erected a mausoleum over his grave. Other persons born are Agha Mohammed Khan, founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran. Also there are claims of Nadir Shah being Turkmen, but that's doubtful according to his own campaigns and official biography. The Nadir Shah's first enemies were the Turkmens of Turkmen Sahra. Well-known visitors of the region include Ármin Vámbéry, who wrote a book about his passage among Turkmens in Turkmen Sahra.[1]