"Merv

(Turkmen: Merw, Мерв; Persian: Marv),

formerly

Achaemenid Persian Satrapy of Margiana, and later

Alexandria (Margiana) and

Antiochia in Margiana,

was a major oasis-city in Central Asia,

on the historical Silk Road,

located near today's

Mary in Turkmenistan.

Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of culture and politics at a site of major strategic value.

The site of ancient Merv has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan)

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 of the satrapies in

the Behistun inscriptions (ca. 515 BC) of the

Persian monarch

Darius Hystaspis.

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

Alexander the Great's visit

to

Merv is merely legendary,

but the city was named

Alexandria

after him for a time.

After Alexander's death

in 323 BC,

Merv

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

Merv

as

Antiochia Margiana;

he rebuilt and expanded the city at the site presently known as

Gyaur Gala (Gäwürgala) fortress.

After the fall of the Seleucid dynasty, Bactria, Parthia, and the Kushans took control in succession.

Merv

was a major city of

Buddhist learning,

with

Buddhist monastery temples for many centuries

until its Islamicization.

At the site of Gyaur Kala and Bairam Ali Buddhism was followed and practised often at the local Buddhist stupas.

After

the Sassanid Ardashir I

(220-240 AD) took

Merv,

the study of numismatics picks up the thread:

the unbroken series of coins originally minted at Merv document a long unbroken direct Sassanian rule of almost four centuries.

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 6th (553) and 11th centuries AD,

Merv

served as the seat of an

East Syrian metropolitan province,

key in

the Dualist church's mission

east up the Silk Road to Turkestan and China.

The Hephthalite (Hun) occupation

from the end of the 5th century to 565 AD

briefly interrupted Sassanid rule.

[ The city of Marv, Turkmenistan in the 4th century as shown on the Peutinger Map ]

the Peutinger Map

Peutinger Map

Tabula Peutingeriana ((ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the cursus publicus, the road network of the Roman Empire.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_Peutingeriana

Arab occupation and influence

Sassanian rule came to an end when the last Sassanian ruler, Yazdegerd III (632-651) was killed not far from the city and the Sassanian military governor surrendered to the approaching Arab army. Representatives of the 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 colony.

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 under subjection large parts of Central Asia, including

Balkh, Bokhara, and Fergana.

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 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,

expanding and re-founding 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 became established in Baghdad, Abu Muslim continued to rule Merv as a semi-independent prince until his eventual assassination. Indeed, Merv operated as the center of Abbasid partisanship for the duration of the Abbasid Revolution of 746-750, and later on became a consistent source of political support for the Abbasid rulers in Baghdad; the governorship of Khurasan at Merv was considered 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.

Throughout the Abbasid era

(750-1258),

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 perhaps provided the inspiration for the Abbasid re-planning of Baghdad.