Merv has prehistoric roots: archaeological surveys have revealed many traces of village life as far back as the 3rd millennium BC and have associated the area culturally with the
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex. The geography of the
Zend-Avesta (commentaries on the
Avesta) mentions Merv (under the name of
Mouru) along with
Balkh. In
Zoroastrianism, the god
Ahura Mazda created Mouru as one of sixteen perfect lands. Under the
Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BC), the historical record mentions Merv as a place of some importance: under the name of
Margu, it occurs as part of one
satrapy in the
Behistun inscriptions (c. 515 BC) of the
Persian monarch
Darius the Great. The first city of Merv was founded in the 6th century BC as part of the
Achaemenid expansion into the region of
Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC), but later strata deeply cover the Achaemenid levels at the site.
Hellenistic era king,
Shapur III, minted in Merv
Alexander the Great's visit to Merv is merely legendary, but the city was named Alexandria () after him for a time. After his death in 323 BC, it became the capital of the
Province of Margiana of the
Seleucid,
Greco-Bactrian (256–125 BC),
Parthian, and
Sassanid states. The Seleucid ruler
Antiochus Soter (reigned 281–261 BC) renamed it to Antiochia Margiana. He rebuilt and expanded the city at the site presently known as
Gyaur Gala fortress.
Isidore of Charax wrote Antiochia was called the "unwatered" ().
Parthian era After the fall of the Seleucid dynasty (63 BC),
Bactria, Parthia, and the
Kushans took control in succession. In 53 BC, some 10,000 Roman prisoners of war from the
Battle of Carrhae appear to have been deported to Merv. Merv was a major city of
Buddhist learning, with Buddhist monastery temples present for many centuries until its Islamisation. At the site of Gyaur Kala and , Buddhism was followed and practised often at the local Buddhist
stupas.
Sasanian era .
Wanghuitu (), circa 650 CE. After the Sasanid
Ardashir I (220–240 AD) took Merv, the study of
numismatics gives a clearer picture of the city’s history. A series of coins originally minted at Merv document almost four centuries of direct Sassanian rule without interruption. During this period, Merv was home to practitioners of various religions beside the official Sassanid
Zoroastrianism, including Buddhists,
Manichaeans, and Christians of the
Church of the East. Between the 5th and 11th centuries, Merv served as the seat of an
East Syrian metropolitan province. The first bishop was
Barshabba (c.360/424). The
Hephthalite occupation from the end of the 5th century to 565 AD briefly interrupted Sassanid rule.
Arab conquest and influence Sassanian rule ended when the last Sassanian ruler,
Yazdegerd III (632–651) was killed near the city and the Sassanian military governor surrendered to the approaching Arab army. Representatives of the
Rashidun caliph,
Umar, occupied the city, which became the capital of the
Umayyad province of
Khorasan. In 671,
Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan sent 50,000 Arab troops to Merv as a garrison. This colony retained its native
Kufan sympathies and became the nucleus of Khurasan. Using the city as their base, the Arabs, led by
Qutayba ibn Muslim from 705 to 715, brought large parts of Central Asia, including
Balkh,
Bukhara, and
Fergana under subjugation. Merv, and Khorasan in general, became one of the first parts of the
Persian-speaking world to become majority-
Muslim. Arab immigration to the area was substantial. A Chinese man captured at Talas,
Du Huan, was brought to
Baghdad and toured the caliphate. He observed that in Merv, Khurasan, Arabs and Persians lived in mixed concentrations. Merv gained renewed importance in February 748 when the Iranian general
Abu Muslim (d. 755) declared a new
Abbasid dynasty at Merv. He expanded the city, and, in the name of the
Abbasid line, used the city as a base of rebellion against the Umayyad caliphate. After the Abbasids established themselves in Baghdad, Abu Muslim continued to rule Merv as a semi-independent prince until his eventual assassination. Indeed, Merv operated as the centre of Abbasid partisanship for the duration of the
Abbasid Revolution of 746–750, and became a consistent source of political support for the Abbasid rulers in Baghdad later on; the governorship of Khurasan at Merv was one of the most important political figures of the
Caliphate. The influential
Barmakid family, based in Merv, played an important part in transferring Greek knowledge (established in Merv since the days of the
Seleucids and
Greco-Bactrians) into the Arab world. brothers,
al-Aslamī and
al-Ghifari, ancient Merv Throughout the Abbasid era, Merv remained the capital and most important city of Khurasan. During this time, the Arab historian
Al-Muqaddasi (c. 945/946–991) called Merv "delightful, fine, elegant, brilliant, extensive, and pleasant". Merv's architecture inspired the Abbasid re-planning of Baghdad. A 10th-century Arab historian,
Ibn Hawqal, wrote of Merv: "and in no other city are to be seen such palaces and groves, and gardens and streams". In the period from 813 to 818, the temporary residency of the caliph,
al-Ma'mun effectively made Merv the capital of the Muslim world and highlighted Merv's importance to the
Abbasids. A descendant of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad,
8th Imam of
Twelver Shia Islam,
Ali ar-Ridha moved to Merv and lived there for several years. Merv also became the centre of a major 8th-century Neo-
Mazdakite movement led by
al-Muqanna, the "Veiled Prophet", who gained many followers by claiming to be an incarnation of God and heir to Abu Muslim; the
Khurramiyya inspired by him, persisted in Merv until the 12th century. Great
Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, among others, spent several years working at the observatory in Merv. As Persian geographer and traveller
al-Istakhri wrote of Merv: "Of all the countries of
Iran, these people were noted for their talents and education." Yaqut al-Hamawi counted as many as 10 giant libraries in Merv, including one within a major mosque that contained 12,000 volumes.
Turkmens in Merv hat, in Maqamat al-Hariri'' (1200–1210). In 1037, the
Seljuq Turkmens, a clan of
Oghuz Turks moving from the steppes east of the
Aral Sea, peacefully took over Merv under the leadership of
Tughril—the Ghaznavid sultan
Mas'ud I was extremely unpopular in the city. Tughril's brother
Chaghri stayed in Merv as the Seljuq domains grew to include the rest of
Khurasan and Iran, and it subsequently became a favourite city of the Seljuq sultans. Chaghri, his son
Alp Arslan (sultan from 1063 to 1072) and great-grandson
Ahmad Sanjar (sultan from 1118 to 1157) were buried at Merv, the latter at the
Tomb of Ahmad Sanjar. Nearing the end of the 11th century, Merv became the eastern capital of the
split Seljuq state. However, starting from 1118, it served as the capital of the whole empire. During this period, Merv expanded to its greatest size—Arab and Persian geographers termed it "the mother of the world", the "rendezvous of great and small", the "chief city of Khurasan" and the "capital of the eastern Islamic world". Written sources also attest to a large library and
madrasa founded by
Nizam al-Mulk, vizier of the Seljuq empire, as well as many other major cultural institutions. Perhaps most importantly, Merv had a market described as "the best of the major cities of Iran and Khurasan". Sanjar's rule, marked by conflict with the
Kara-Khitai and
Khwarazmians, ended in 1153 when
Turkmen nomads from beyond the
Amu Darya pillaged the city. Subsequently, Merv changed hands from the Turkmen nomads to the
Ghurids in 1192, and to the
Khwarizmians in 1204. According to
Tertius Chandler, by 1150 Merv was the world's largest city, with a population of 200,000. By 1210, it may have had as many as 500,000 residents, preceding such medieval metropolises as
Constantinople and Baghdad.
Mongols in Merv In 1221, Merv opened its gates to
Tolui, son of
Genghis Khan, chief of the
Mongols. Most of the inhabitants are said to have been butchered. Arab historian
Ibn al-Athir described the event basing his report on the narrative of Merv refugees: A Persian historian,
Juvayni, put the figure at more than 1,300,000. Each individual soldier of the conquering army "was allotted the execution of three to four hundred persons", many of those soldiers being levies from
Sarakhs who, because of their town's enmity toward Merv, "exceeded the ferocity of the heathen Mongols in the slaughter of their fellow-Muslims." Almost the entire population of Merv, and refugees arriving from the other parts of the
Khwarazmian Empire, were slaughtered, making it one of the bloodiest captures of a city in world history. Excavations revealed the drastic rebuilding of the city's fortifications in the aftermath of their destruction, but the city's prosperity had passed. The Mongol invasion spelled the eclipse of Merv and other major centres for more than a century. After the Mongol conquest, Merv became part of the
Ilkhanate, and it was consistently looted by
Chagatai Khanate. In the early part of the 14th century, the town became the seat of a Christian archbishopric of the Eastern Church under the rule of the
Kartids, vassals of the Ilkhanids. By 1380, Merv belonged to the empire of
Timur (Tamerlane).
Uzbeks in Merv and its final destruction of 1510 between Shah
Ismail I and the Uzbek Khan
Muhammad Shaybani. Located at the
Chehel Sotoun Palace in
Isfahan, Iran In 1505, the
Uzbeks occupied Merv. Five years later, Shah
Ismail I, the founder of the
Safavid dynasty of Iran,
expelled them. In this period, a Persian nobleman restored a large dam, the Soltanbent, on the river
Murghab. The settlement which developed in the irrigated area became known as . After Shah Ismail's death, the region became a dependency of
Khiva. However, in 1593, Merv was conquered by
Abdullah Khan II of
Bukhara. The city was soon captured by Shah Abbas. A Safavid governor, Biktash Khan Ustajlu, was appointed to the governorship in 1600. In 1608, Mihrab Khan Qajar became governor, beginning two centuries of
Qajar governorship over Merv. In 1785, the
Manghit amir of Bukhara,
Shah Murad, attacked the city and killed the ruler, Bayram 'Ali Khan Qajar.
Nineteenth century Merv passed to the
Khanate of Khiva in 1823. Sir
Alexander Burnes traversed the country in 1832. About this time, the Persians forced the
Tekke Turkmens, then living on the
Tejen River, to migrate northward. Khiva contested the Tekkes' advance, but in about 1856, the latter became the sovereign power in the country, and remained so until the
Russians occupied the oasis in 1884. By 1868, the Russians had taken most of what would become
Russian Central Asia except
Turkmenistan. The Russians approached this area from the Caspian, and in 1881, they
captured Geok Tepe in one of the bloodiest battles in the region. Much of the civilian population that was unable to flee was later massacred by the Russian troops. The Russians further occupied the oasis of
Tejen, eighty miles to the west. The next Russian move was south
toward Herat. By 1888, the city was entirely abandoned. A future viceroy of
British India,
George Curzon visited the remains of Merv in 1888. He later wrote: "In the midst of an absolute wilderness of crumbling brick and clay, the spectacle of walls, towers, ramparts and domes, stretching in bewildering confusion to the horizon, reminds us that we are in the centre of bygone greatness." == Remains ==