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Merv
Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium BC until the 18th century AD. It changed hands repeatedly throughout history. Under the Achaemenid Empire, it was the center of the satrapy of Margiana. It was subsequently ruled by Hellenistic Period, Hellenistic Kings, Parthians, Sasanian Empire, Sasanians, Arabs, Ghaznavids, Seljuk Turks, Seljuqs, Khwarazmian dynasty, Khwarazmians and Timurids, among others. Merv was the capital city of several polity, polities throughout its history. In the beginning of the 9th century, Merv was the seat of the caliph al-Ma'mun and the capital of the entire Abbasid caliphate, Islamic caliphate. It served later as the seat of the Tahirid dynasty, Tahirid governors of Greater Khorasan, Khorasan. In the 11th–12th centuries, Merv was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margiana
Margiana ( ''Margianḗ'', Old Persian: ''Marguš'', Middle Persian: ''Marv'') is a historical region centred on the oasis of Merv and was a minor satrapy within the Achaemenid satrapy of Bactria, and a province within its successors, the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian empires. It was located in the valley of the Murghab River which has its sources in the mountains of Afghanistan, and passes through Murghab District in modern Afghanistan, and then reaches the oasis of Merv in modern Turkmenistan. Margiana bordered Parthia to the south-west, Aria in the south, Bactria in the east and Sogdia in the north. History 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 sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary, Turkmenistan
Mary (; Cyrillic: Мары) is a city on an oasis in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, located on the Murgab River. It was founded in 1884 about from the ruins of the ancient abandoned great city of Merv and was actually named Merv until 1937. Mary is the capital city of Mary Region. In 2022, Mary had a population of 167,000, up from 92,000 in the 1989 census. Etymology Atanyýazow notes that the name "Muru" appears in Zoroastrian texts alongside the toponyms Sogd (Sogdia) and Bakhti (Bactria), and that the name "Margiana" appears carved into rocks at Behistun, Iran, dating back 2,500 years. Atanyyazow adds, "the name was used in the form Merv-ash-Shahizhan", with subsequent forms including Muru, Mouru, Margiana, Marg, Margush, Maru, Maru-shahu-jahan, Maru-Shahu-ezan, Merv, and Mary, and that some scholars interpret the word ''marg'' as "green field" or "grassland", noting that in Persian ''marg'' can mean a source of livestock. History The ancient city of Merv was an o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Seljuq Empire
The Seljuk Empire, or the Great Seljuk Empire, was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, established and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. The empire spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to the Hindu Kush in the east, and from Central Asia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and it spanned the time period 1037–1308, though Seljuk rule beyond the Anatolian peninsula ended in 1194. The Seljuk Empire was founded in 1037 by Tughril (990–1063) and his brother Chaghri (989–1060), both of whom co-ruled over its territories; there are indications that the Seljuk leadership otherwise functioned as a triumvirate and thus included Musa Yabghu, the uncle of the aforementioned two. During the formative phase of the empire, the Seljuks first advanced from their original homelands near the Aral Sea into Khorasan and then into the Iranian mainland, where they would become largely based as a Persianate socie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Kyz Kala
The Great Kyz Kala is a large ruined fortress in the ancient city of Merv, now in Turkmenistan. It is an example of a ''köshk'' or ''kushk'' type of fortress: an earthen building built on a raised platform, with exterior walls formed of large vertical engaged columns (a series of octagonal half-columns) with large corrugations. These fortresses are equipped with internal palatial rooms, often decorated. It occupied an area of . The construction date is rather uncertain, with some authors arguing for an early 6th to 7th century date, attributing it to the Sasanian Empire (224–651). It is also attributed to the 8th/9th century CE, corresponding to the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad or Abassid period. The Great Kyz Kala was an elite palatial suburban residence, perhaps meant for the use of the governor of Merv. It remained in use until the Seljuk Empire, Seljuks as a function room. A smaller fortress nearby is the Little Kyz Kala. Gallery File:Reconstruction of the Great Kyz Kala, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Khorasan
KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses western and northern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, the eastern halves of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The extent of the region referred to as ''Khorasan'' varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised the present territories of Khorasan Province, northeastern Iran, parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia, extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However, the name has often been used in a loose sense to include a wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan), extended westward to the Caspian Sea, Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan, and eastward to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern world, Eastern and Western worlds. The name "Silk Road" was coined in the late 19th century, but some 20th- and 21st-century historians instead prefer the term Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, South Asia, South, Southeast Asia, Southeast, and West Asia as well as East Africa and Southern Europe. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were History of Silk, primarily produced in China. The network began with the expansion of the Han dynasty (202 BCE220 CE) into Central Asia around 114 BCE, through the missions and explorations of the Chinese imperial env ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign over ancient Iran was second only to the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Founded by Ardashir I, whose rise coincided with the decline of Arsacid influence in the face of both internal and external strife, the House of Sasan was highly determined to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding and consolidating the Iranian nation's dominions. Most notably, after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighbouring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the Roman–Iranian Wars. This effort by Ardashir's dynasty ultimately re-established Iran as a major power of late an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkmen People
Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the North Caucasus ( Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Eastern Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages. In the early Middle ages, Turkmens called themselves Oghuz; in the Middle Ages, they took the ethnonym Turkmen. These early Oghuz Turkmens moved westward from the Altai Mountains through the Siberian steppes, and settled in the region now known as Turkmenistan. Further westward migration of the Turkmen tribes from the territory of modern Turkmenistan and the rest of Central Asia started from the 11th century and continued until the 18th century. These Turkmen tribes played a significant role in the ethnic formation of such peoples as Anatolian Turks, Turkmens of Iraq, and Syria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. After overthrowing the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH), they ruled as caliphs based in modern-day Iraq, with Baghdad being their capital for most of their history. The Abbasid Revolution had its origins and first successes in the easterly region of Khurasan, far from the Levantine center of Umayyad influence. The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad as the new capital. Baghdad became the center of science, culture, arts, and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. By housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Ma'mun
Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by the power and prosperity of the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Ma'mun promoted the Graeco-Arabic translation movement, the House of Wisdom, flowering of learning and the sciences in Baghdad, and the publishing of al-Khwarizmi's The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, book now known as "Algebra". Making him one of the most important caliphs in the Islamic Golden Age. He is also known as a proponent of the rational Islamic theology of Mu'tazilism. Al-Ma'mun succeeded his half-brother al-Amin after a Fourth Fitna, civil war, much of his reign was spent on peace campaigns. His strong support for Mu'tazilism led him to imprison a Sunni Islam, Sunni Imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal in an event that became known as ''mihna.'' Al-Ma'mun's for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Persian suffix "-stan" (meaning ) in both respective native languages and most other languages. The region is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the southwest, European Russia to the northwest, China and Mongolia to the east, Afghanistan and Iran to the south, and Siberia to the north. Together, the five Central Asian countries have a total population of around million. In the pre-Islamic and early Islamic eras ( and earlier) Central Asia was inhabited predominantly by Iranian peoples, populated by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians, Khwarezmian language, Chorasmians, and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Dahae. As the result of Turkic migration, Central Asia also became the homeland for the Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Volga Tatars, Tatars, Turkmens, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tahirid Dynasty
The Tahirid dynasty (, ) was an Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in Abbasid Baghdad until 891. The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun. For his support of al-Ma'mun in the Fourth Fitna, he was granted the governance of Khorasan. The Tahirids, however, were not an independent dynasty—according to Hugh Kennedy: "The Tahirids are sometimes considered as the first independent Iranian dynasty, but such a view is misleading. The arrangement was effectively a partnership between the Abbasids and the Tahirids." Indeed, the Tahirids were loyal to the Abbasid caliphs and in return enjoyed considerable autonomy; they were in effect viceroys representing Abbasid rule in Persia. The tax revenue from Khorasan sent to the caliphal treasury in Baghdad was perhaps larger than those collect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
