Captain Turner Macan (1792-1836) of Carriff, Co. Armagh, was Persian Interpreter to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India. His edition of the Shahnameh was the first ever printed in Europe. The text was prepared from seventeen complete manuscripts and four fragments, most of which were written in Persia, lent to Macan by various British army officers and civil servants as well as local nawabs. One of these manuscripts (Rylands Persian MS 932, University of Manchester) was presented to the translator by Nasir-ud-Din Haidar, the King of Oudh.

Richard Macan was with Turner Macan when he died in Calcutta in 1836 and took charge of his affairs.