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"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 mille
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-pla