Tash

Tash was the chief deity of the national religion of Calormen, and was especially favored by the ruling classes. Calormen's capital city was named Tashbaan in his honor, and the nobility of the empire - the Tisrocs, Tarkaans and Tarkheenas - often claimed to be descended from Tash.

The worship of Tash was the only formal religious practice described within the World of Narnia: idols were made in his likeness, there was at least one temple dedicated to him (within Tashbaan), and specific rituals were involved in his worship.

Rather than being worshiped lovingly, like Aslan, Tash was feared by his own followers, and outsiders regarded him as cruel and monstrous. It was stated that he had his own country, just as Aslan did, and that the two figures were fundamental opposites.

Worship and Beliefs
"They have a god called Tash. They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture. They kill men on his altar."

- A lamb, talking about Tash.


 * The Temple of Tash located in Tashbaan contained a stone statue of the deity, overlaid with gold and with diamonds for eyes.
 * Ritual human sacrifice was apparently commonplace in the Temple of Tash, and the name of Tash was frequently invoked in oaths and accompanied by exclamations.
 * Prince Rabadash, frustrated and maddened by his military defeat in Archenland, called upon Tash to inflict vengeance on his enemies as "lightning in the shape of scorpions". This resulted in nothing but mockery and pity from his captors, and Aslan, after repeatedly warning Rabadash to repent of his anger, turned him into a donkey.
 * Aslan also told Rabadash that since he had appealed to Tash, this transformation would be lifted when he visited the Temple of Tash in Tashbaan. However, for the rest of his life Rabadash could not go more than ten miles from the temple, or he would become a donkey again forever.

Tashlan
By the time of The Last Battle, many Narnians had begun to doubt that Aslan was as genuinely powerful as many of the old stories claimed, since he had not appeared in Narnia for a long time. In an effort to gain power and authority over the Narnians, Shift the scheming ape helped to mastermind a Calormene invasion of Narnia. Along with Ginger the duplicitous cat and other treacherous Narnians, Shift and the leading Calormene Rishda Tarkaan concocted a story that Aslan and Tash were the same figure, known as Tashlan (this also helped to justify the Calormene invasion in the first place). Shift disguised Puzzle the donkey in a lion's skin and kept him in a stable, claiming that Aslan had become very angry with the Narnians and would only speak to them through Shift. Many Narnians and even more of the Calormenes thought this whole story was ridiculous, given Aslan's and Tash's antithetical natures, but were powerless to speak up against Rishda and Shift.

The Stable
As the rumblings of doubt regarding "Tashlan" continued to grow, the Calormenes stationed a soldier inside the stable. Sending dissenters into the stable to "meet Tashlan" was meant to be a way of secretly murdering them and reinforcing the story of the deity's anger.

Ginger the cat discovered that Tash was not merely a mythological creature, but a real-life monster contained inside the stable. After this horrendous encounter, Ginger was so terrified that he lost the power of speech, becoming a dumb animal.

When Shift was thrown into the stable by King Tirian, Tash appeared, vulture-headed and vicious, and devoured him. After Tirian dragged Rishda into the stable, Tash spoke for the first time, "Thou hast called me into Narnia, Rishda Tarkaan. Here I am. What hast thou to say?" When he saw Rishda, who was speechless from severe fear, Tash pounced on him and tucked him under the upper of his two right arms. He then fixed his stare on Tirian, possibly wondering what to make of him. Before he could make up his mind, however, the High King Peter declared that Tash should take his lawful prey to his own domain, and proceeded to banish him in the name of Aslan and his father, the Emperor-over-the-Sea. Tash obeyed.

Since all worlds lead to Aslan's country, it is plausible that evil people from any world are sent to Tash's country. If this is so, then Tash's country is Hell, in the same way that Aslan's country is Heaven. It is unknown what Tash does to all the evil creatures that were sent to his domain. Given his similar nature to the Devil, it is not far-fetched to assume that it is unimaginably horrible.

Emeth
One Calormene soldier, Emeth, was so devout that he insisted on going in to meet Tash and vanished into Aslan's Country. He expected Tash to smite only unbelievers with heavenly fire, so he went searching for Tash in Aslan's Country, but instead met Aslan. Aslan told Emeth, "All the service thou hast done to Tash, I accept as service done to me," and further explained, "No service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him." He told Emeth that his pious devotion was really to Aslan, rather than to Tash, although Emeth had not been aware of this; Emeth was greatly moved by this revelation and lovingly fell at the lion's feet and wept with joy.

Appearance
When the protagonists see Tash from the tower:

"At first glance you might have mistaken it for smoke, for it was grey and you could see things through it. But the deathly smell was not the smell of smoke. Also, this thing kept its shape instead of billowing and curling as smoke would have done. It was roughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretching them out Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip; and its fingers—all twenty of them—were curved like its beak and had long, pointed, bird-like claws instead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking, and the grass seemed to wither beneath it."

Tash was roughly humanoid, but much larger than a man, with four arms and the head of a vulture. His presence brought cold and the sickening stench of death. Narnians described him as a deity or a demon to be feared.

Chants
Rabadash used as a rallying cry: "In the name of Tash the irresistible, the inexorable—forward!"

Rishda Tarkaan's army chanted "Tash, Tash, the great god Tash. Inexorable Tash."

Trivia

 * Tash is Turkish for stone or rock.
 * Tash's invocation, "In the name of Tash, the inexorable, the irresistible", draws a grammatical parallel to the Islamic Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim (in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful).
 * Tash's appearance might be based on the Sumerian god Ninurta, who is depicted with the head of an eagle; the multiple arms are characteristic of various Hindu deities. Bird headed beings are also common in Ancient Egyptian, Mesoamerican and Japanese myth (tengu). Moreover, in some illustrations Tash is depicted wearing attire that seems to be inspired by Aztec culture, notably his feathered headdress; the practice of live human sacrifice was likewise common in Aztec society.

Christian Relevance
It is suggested in the book that Tash is opposed to Aslan: by implication, he is Satan in his Narnia, just as Aslan is Jesus Christ in Narnia. This is illustrated by the reactions of the main characters to his presence: they talk of a foul smell and of the air growing cold when he passes near them. 'Tash' and 'Aslan' are respectively the Turkish words for 'stone' and 'lion'. The name Tash can also mean "disgrace" or "stain." Equally telling is the false religion Shift created, not unlike the one certain interpretations of the Book of Revelation depict, which the Bible asserts will ultimately call the Anti-Christ.

It should be noted that Calormenes who did good in the name of Tash were really honoring Aslan: likewise Narnians who did evil in Aslan's name were in actuality serving Tash. This is made clear in The Last Battle, in which Emeth, an honest Calormene soldier, enters "Aslan's Country". In fact, the Calormene capital city has an existence in Aslan's Country.

Tash