Merv Sultan Kala (Marv al-Shāhijān Merv the Great) 8th cent CE Abbasid Abu Muslim Complex of the Askhabs 15th cent Timurid iwans (aivans) (1e)

            The cities of the Merv oasis lie on the banks of the Murghab River delta, where the river flows into the Kara Kum desert and disappears in the sand.    
The earliest city, Erk Kala, was founded c.500 BCE and later became the citadel of the Hellenistic city, Antiochia Margiana, (Gyaur Kala) in the 3rd century. The medieval city, Sultan Kala, was built on the other side of the main canal; and the post-medieval city, Abdullah Khan Kala, was built in 1409, with an extension, Bairam Ali Khan Kala. Its exceptional location for trade, commerce and the exchange of ideas, ensured its major role in the functioning of the Silk Road.

Sultan Kala was founded by Abu Muslim Abd al-Rahman ibn Muslim al-Khurasani (or Behzādān Pour Vandād Hormozd) c.718/19-755,  a Persian  general who led the Abbasid Revolution in Merv that toppled the Umayyad dynasty in 748, leading to the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Ashab Aivans: the mausolea of two companions of the Prophet (ashabs), al-Hakim ibn Amr al-Jafari and Buraida ibn al-Huseib al-Islami. The two small buildings sit in front of reconstructed Timurid aivans (iwans, portals) that honour the tombs of the two askhabs.

Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari d. 670/71, was Umayyad governor of Khurasan (r.665-670/71) and commander of Arab expeditions into Transoxiana (Central Asia) until his death in Merv.

Buraydah ibn al-Husayb al-Aslami was a Sahabi, one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad, and one of the leading persons of the Banu Aslam, an Arabian tribe.

Taken in: Turkmenistan / Bagt (show map)

Taken on: August 17, 2010

Tags:

Turkmenistan

Merv

Alexandria

Antiochia in Margiana

Marw al-Shāhijān

Karakum Desert

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Erk Kala

Gyaur Kala

Sultan Kala

Abdullah Khan Kala

Bairam Ali Khan Kala

Silk Road

UNESCO

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Hellenistic

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Seleucid

Antiochus I Soter

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Marv al-Shāhijān

8th century

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Complex of the Askhabs

15th century

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Sets appears in: • Turkmenistan: Merv

Groups appears in: • Islam - Beautiful Culture and People (Post 1 ~ Be KIND to AWARD • Ashgabat and Turkmenistan

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