Merv

Timeline

1. c. -500–600Merv Oasis · KhorasanRelying on irrigation agriculture in the Murghab River basin, Merv became a trade node linking the Iranian plateau with the Central Asian steppe, successively under Persian empires and Sasanian rule.
2. 700–1000Merv · KhorasanAfter the Arab conquest Merv became one of the centers of Islamic scholarship and administration; walls were expanded, mosques and markets flourished, laying the urban foundation for later Turkic regimes to take over.
3. 1040–1118Merv · Seljuk EmpireAfter the Oghuz Turk-dominated Seljuk regime gained control of Khorasan, Merv's status rose as the seat of the eastern governor, becoming the imperial east wing's military deployment and tax center.
4. 1118–1157Merv (sultan's capital) · KhorasanFrom 1118 to 1157 Sanjar made Merv his capital, building palaces, madrasas and fortifications; around 1111–1120 the city's population and handicrafts peaked, making it the political and cultural core of the Seljuk Empire's east.
5. 1157–1221Merv · TurkmenistanAfter Sanjar's death the empire fragmented and Khwarazm rose; Merv's strategic position declined; after a Mongol siege in 1221 the city was systematically destroyed, the once-prosperous oasis city reduced to ruins.