Ancient period Historians currently disagree as to the exact history of Margiana prior to the Achaemenid conquest. It is considered part of a
Bronze Age civilisation, the
Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation. Some historians have argued that a kingdom was established and an urban society had begun to develop surrounding the oasis.
Achaemenid period relief of Frâda, a king of Margiana circa 522 BC. Label: "This is Frâda. He lied, saying "I am king of Margiana."" Margiana was conquered by the Persian king
Cyrus the Great between 545 and 539 BC and remained as part of the satrapy of Bactria. Cyrus also founded the city of
Merv. After
Darius the Great's victory over the
Magian usurper,
Gaumata, in September 522 BC, revolts spread throughout the empire. The revolt in Margiana, led by a certain Frâda (Phraates), was suppressed almost immediately, in December 521 BC by
Dadarsi, the Satrap of Bactria. In the
Aramaic version of the
Behistun Inscription, it is claimed that 55,423 Margians were killed and 6,972 taken captive in the aftermath of the revolt. Margiana was separated from the satrapy of Bactria and joined to the satrapy of Aria at some point after the rule of Darius the Great. Following the
Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, in which
Alexander the Great defeated
Darius III, Darius III began his retreat to Bactria, but was overthrown by the Satrap of Bactria,
Bessus, who continued the retreat eastward through
Aria and Margiana. Bessus, who had expected an attack from Alexander along the
Silk Road, was surprised when Alexander had advanced through
Gedrosia and
Arachosia and crossed the
Hindu Kush mountains in 329 BC to invade Bactria. Bessus fled north to
Sogdia where he too was betrayed and was handed over to Alexander by his courtiers,
Spitamenes and Datames. In July 329 BC, as Alexander founded the city of
Alexandria Eschate on the northern border of Sogdia, Spitamenes led a revolt and besieged the Sogdian capital of
Maracanda. A
Scythian incursion into Sogdia prevented Alexander from responding personally, however, once he had defeated the Scythians in the
Battle of Jaxartes, he marched south to relieve Maracanda causing Spitamenes to move south and attack
Balkh in the winter of 329 BC. In the spring of 328 BC, Alexander sent his general
Craterus to fortify Margiana, where he established a garrison in Merv and re-founded the city as
Alexandria in Margiana. Alexander's general
Coenus defeated Spitamenes in the Battle of Gabai in December 328 BC, and subsequently in the following year Sogdia was merged with Bactria to form a single satrapy under the rule of
Philip.
Hellenistic Period Upon Alexander's death in 323 BC, the empire was partitioned between his generals at the
Partition of Babylon and according to some historians, Philip remained as satrap of Bactria, however, it has also been suggested that he was in fact only satrap of Sogdia. Disagreements between the generals led to another meeting and in the
Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Philip was replaced as satrap of Bactria and Sogdia by
Stasanor. During the
Wars of the Diadochi, Stasanor remained neutral, however after the
Babylonian War of 311–309 BC, Margiana came under the control of
Seleucus I Nicator. In c. 280 BC, Margiana was devastated by the nomadic
Parni tribes and several cities were destroyed. Seleucus responded by sending his general Demodamas to repel the nomads. Under Seleucus' successor,
Antiochus I Soter, the oasis of Alexandria in Margiana was surrounded by a wall over 300 km long and the city was re-built and re-founded as
Antiochia in Margiana as the capital of a separate satrapy of Margiana in an effort to secure communications and trade routes from Antiochus' capital in Mesopotamia to the far east. Margiana was successfully defended by
Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, against an invasion by the Parni in c. 239/238 BC. The invasion demonstrated that
Seleucus II Callinicus was unable to respond to threats in the East and therefore Diodotus, who had begun pushing for his independence in c. 245 BC, abandoned hopes of remaining part of the Seleucid Empire and declared himself king, thus establishing what is now known as the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Margiana was conquered by the Parthians under
Mithridates I of Parthia in c. 170 BC. The defeat of the
Yuezhi people in 175 BC caused many Yuezhi to flee westwards, displacing the
Saka as a result, leading to a mass movement of Saka and Yuezhi towards Sogdia and Bactria. Around 140 BC the Saka invaded Parthian territory through Margiana, venturing as far as Media in central Iran and continuing to harass the Parthians until 124 BC, in the course of which they defeated and killed two successive Parthian kings. The Yuezhi, who had settled in Sogdia along the Oxus, controlled Margiana until 115 BC when
Mithridates II of Parthia re-established control over the east, forcing the Yuezhi to move south into Bactria. In 53 BC, 10,000 Roman prisoners captured by the Parthians after the
Battle of Carrhae in
Upper Mesopotamia were settled in Antiochia in Margiana. The Yuezhi went on to conquer the remaining Greek territories in
Paropamisadae and establish the
Kushan Empire.
Post-Hellenistic period The Kushans returned to Margiana in the 1st century AD and helped the satrap
Sanabares declare himself king who ruled from ca. 50 AD to 65 AD. At the onset of the 3rd century AD, Margiana had been restored as a vassal of the Parthian Empire, but continued to exist as a "virtually independent state". After
Ardashir I's victory over the last
Parthian king,
Artabanus V, at the
Battle of Hormozdgān in 224 AD, Margiana, ruled by a certain king Ardashir, submitted to Ardashir I and accepted vassalage. The vassal kingdom was permitted to continue minting its own coinage until it was formally annexed by
Shapur I in c. 260 AD who granted control of Margiana to his son,
Narseh, as part of the province of
Hind,
Sagistan and
Turan. In the fifth century, during the reign of the Sasanian king
Bahram V, Margiana and the northern territories were invaded and plundered by the
Hephthalites, also known as the White Huns. Bahram, after initially sending an offer of peace, led a surprise attack on the Hepthalites and massacred them whilst they camped and then pursued them as they attempted to flee back to their own territory. Bahram himself pursued the Hepthalites to the river
Oxus in Margiana and sent one of his generals beyond the river who crippled them greatly. Despite this, the Hepthalites returned in around 480 AD and occupied Margiana until 565 AD. In 642 AD, after the Sasanian disaster at the hands of the
Rashidun Caliphate at the
Battle of Nihawand, much like Darius III, the last Sasanian king,
Yazdegerd III, fled eastward and arrived in Margiana in 651 AD. Farrukhzad then left for Tabaristan, where he would later become king himself. As the Muslim army approached, Mahoe plotted with the
Hepthalite ruler
Nezak Tarkan to overthrow Yazdegerd who later discovered the plot and retreated to Marwir-Rawdh in southern Margiana. Mahoe agreed to pay tribute to the Rashidun general
Ahnaf ibn Qais who began to consolidate Islam in Margiana and awaited reinforcements. Ahnaf captured Merw i-Rud, forcing Yazdegerd to flee to Balkh with his remaining supporters. Ahnaf was ordered by the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab to remain at Merv and not pursue Yazdegerd. However, upon learning that Yazdegerd had formed an alliance with Hepthalites beyond Margiana and was approaching Merv, Ahnaf rallied his forces and defeated Yazdegerd at the
Battle of Oxus River. After his defeat, the Sasanian king attempted to hide in a mill where he was killed by a Margian miller, bringing the Sasanian Empire to an end. ==Religion==