Historical Reference |
Merv Oasis, Murghab River, and the Tejun Oasis |
The large green area to the left is Merv and the green line south from the main area is the Murghab River that flows north and feeds the Merv Oasis. The Tejun Oasis is the large green area to the left.
Afghanistan and Persia 1856 (1.4MB) "Map to Illustrate the Travels of General Ferrier in Persia and Afghanistan" from Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Afghanistan, Turkistan, and Beloochistan; with Historical Notices of the Countries Lying Between Russia and India by Joseph Pierre Ferrier. Second Edition 1857. " Merv-i- Qajar," or Merv of the Qajar (the present reigning dynasty in Persia), evidencing by its name that it is the last built of the four towns of Merv, was roofless ; but its streets, walls of houses, mosques, and baths remained, a silent and gloomy record of the past. The Merv of the Seljukian dynasty was marked by low hillocks and a solitary tomb. Ancient Merv had been utterly effaced. Merv to Khiva. — On leaving Merv, Abbott crossed a dry channel of the Murghab, and proceeded by a well-beaten road, in direction E.N.E. He soon observed to the east the rains of a former Merv, of which a mosque and several forts were prominent features. The space covered by these remains of bygone prosperity appeared some thirty miles in circumference; so that it might well have included more than the city of the Persian kings. On Journeys Between Herat, and Khiva by Goldsmid Page 14 Merv circa 1222Merv
had been partially reoccupied, and had received a
garrison commanded by an officer of Jelal-ud-din. This
was enough to bring down upon it the vengeance of the
Mongols ; a detachment was sent against it, who searched
its corners for forty days to find victims, and
slaughtered them mercilessly. Some of the inhabitants hid
away in the ruins; the barbarous general ordered the
muezzin to be sounded, and as each Mosle,\m emerged to go
to prayer he was killed; only a few individuals remained
among the ruins, and Merv continued to be a mere
collection of debris until the day of Shah Rukh, the son
mof Timur who had it rebuilt. Curzon on Merv 1889The
fact is that this Merv never was an important city, or
even a city at all. It is merely a site, first occupied
by the Tekke Turkmen when under their famous leader
Koushid Khan they swept up the valley of the Murghab in
the year 1856, driving the Sariks or previous settlers
before them, and ousting them from
their city of |
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