Sultan is the current leader of the Bandits faction as a whole during the events of Call of Pripyat. He has reorganized the faction into a more dark and secretive faction than it once was, doing deals with former enemies and making new ones.
Previous History
According to himself, Sultan has been through a lot of trouble. When at high school, Tolyan, his closest friend, became addicted to narcotics, quickly going from cannabis to heroin and, finally, cocaine. Apparently, he eventually overdosed, due to taking drugs of a very low quality. Sultan decided to avenge him, by tracking down and killing his dealers. He was soon caught by the police, and sent to prison. There, even more trouble ensued--infighting between gangs--and he was, apparently, stabbed in his stomach with a shiv.
After being released, he tried starting a "business", but were soon sent back to prison. After once again getting out, he decided to leave all that shit behind and set his sights on the Zone.
There, he joined the Bandits, soon rising in ranks from being a low-ranked thug to, eventually, a veritable kingpin.
Appearances
Call of Pripyat
By the events of CoP, Sultan has become the Bandit faction's leader. His way of running it is quite different from that of previous leaders. The Bandits, except, for example, the cell under Jack's command, act much more secretively than before and in a very organized way.
Sultan appears to believe that the Bandits aren't merely petty thieves and murderers, instead viewing them and himself a bit more like enforcers of order, which is evident in this quote:
We watch over stalkers. You have to admit that a good half of you are more like little kids than men. You come to the Zone with some silly dreams, or to play heroes, or just because life's treating you badly. You don't realize all that's waiting for you in here - the grim reaper, mostly. That's the kind we look for. We find one in the Garbage, we take his gear and send 'im back to the Cordon. (Possibly a reference to the player being ambushed and robbed in Shadow of Chernobyl) Some wise up and go back to the outside. Those with the stones to come back here, we put under our protection and and we tax 'em.
If asked about what brought them to the center of the Zone, this is the response:
Our legs. We came here for the stalkers, what else? Without us around to keep order it's sheer goddamn chaos. You loot it, you keep it, sure, but who's gonna pay your taxes? You know, the peace and security tax. Like if one of you is milking an anomaly while we're on the lookout, keeping mutants at bay. If he comes out fine, we take a cut... for maintaining order, you understand.
Also, while describing how he came to the Zone, he says: So I'm in charge here, upholding the local law. So, to conclude, he and the Bandits under his command are not only more organized, but also less chaotic and randomly violent, at least when compared to their predecessors.
Of course, this doesn't mean that they're not into some quite shady things. Sultan is constantly trying to take control of the Skadovsk from Beard and his compatriots, using tactics ranging from being merely illegal to outright violent. In this turf war, his connections come in handy, such as his alliance - Of sorts - with Owl.
The other illegal activities that are evident during the course of the game is, for example, his exchange of artifacts for weapons with the corrupt Duty supply officer Morgan, his attempt to assassinate the Loners taking refuge in an old shipwreck with a strike team led by his bodyguard Knuckles, sending one of his men to Yanov to execute the fleeing Snag, trying to cut Beard's supply of "Svarog" Detectors short, as well as many others. Often, the player gets to chose whether to aid Sultan or go against him. If the player does choose to aid Beard, Sultan will quickly lose power and bandits in Skoadovsk or in the wild in Zaton will quickly become a rare sight.
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