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MERV, MERU

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 176 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MERV, MERU or MAUR, an See also:oasis and See also:town of See also:Asia, in the Transcaspian See also:province of See also:Russia. The oasis is situated on the S. edge of theKara-See also:kum See also:desert, in 370 30' N. and 62°E. It is about 230 M. N. from See also:Herat, and 28o S.S.E. from See also:Khiva. Its See also:area is about 'goo sq. m. The See also:great See also:chain of mountains which, under the names of See also:Paropamisus and See also:Hindu-Kush, extends from the See also:Caspian to the See also:Pamirs is interrupted some 18o m. See also:south of Merv. Through or near this See also:gap flow northwards in parallel courses the See also:rivers Heri-rud (Tejend) and See also:Murghab, until they lose themselves in the desert of Kara-kum. Thus they make Mery a sort of See also:watch See also:tower over the entrance into See also:Afghanistan on the See also:north-See also:west and at the same See also:time create a stepping-See also:stone or Nape between north-See also:east See also:Persia and the states of See also:Bokhara and See also:Samarkand. The See also:present inhabitants of the oasis are Turkomans of the Tekke tribe. In 1897 they numbered approximately 240,000. The oasis is irrigated by an elaborate See also:system of canals cut from the Murghab. The See also:country has at all times been renowned throughout the East for its fertility.

Every See also:

kind of cereal and many fruits grow in great abundance, e.g. See also:wheat, See also:millet, See also:barley and melons, also See also:rice and See also:cotton. Silkworms are bred. The Turkomans possess a famous breed of horses and keep camels See also:sheep, See also:cattle, asses and mules. They are excellent workers in See also:silver and noted as armourers, and their carpets are See also:superior to the See also:Persian. They also make felts and a rough See also:cloth of sheep's See also:wool. The See also:heat of summer is most oppressive. The least See also:wind raises clouds of See also:fine dust, which fill the See also:air, render it so opaque as to obscure the noonday See also:sun, and make respiration difficult. In See also:winter the See also:climate is very fine. See also:Snow falls rarely, and when it does, it melts at once. The See also:annual rainfall rarely exceeds 5 in., and there is often no See also:rain from See also:June till See also:October. While in summer the thermometer goes up' to 970 F., in winter it descends to 19.5°. The See also:average yearly temperature is 6o°.

Here is a See also:

Russian imperial domain of 436 sq. m., artificially irrigated by See also:works completed in 1895. See also:History.—In Hindu (the Puranas), Parsi and Arab tradition, Mery is looked upon as the See also:ancient See also:Paradise, the See also:cradle of the See also:Aryan families of mankind, and so of the human See also:race. Under,,, the name of Mourn this See also:place is mentioned with Bakhdi (See also:Balkh) in the See also:geography of the Zend-Avesta (Vendidad, ed. Spiegel, 1852-1863), which See also:dates probably from at least 1200 B.C. Under the name of Margu it occurs in the See also:cuneiform (See also:Behistun) See also:inscriptions of the Persian monarch See also:Darius Hystaspis, where it is referred to as forming See also:part of one of the satrapies of the ancient Persian See also:Empire. It afterwards became a province (Margiana) of the Graeco-Syrian, See also:Parthian and Persian kingdoms. On the Margus—the Epardus of See also:Arrian and now the Murghab—stood the See also:capital of the See also:district, Antiochia Margiana, so called after See also:Antiochus See also:Soter, who rebuilt the See also:city founded by See also:Alexander the Great. They were closed down in 1882, but the collieries belonging to them continue to be worked on a large See also:scale, yielding over 2000 tons of See also:coal a See also:day. The See also:fourth great ironworks were those of See also:Pen-y-darran which were carried on from 1782 to 1859. It was at Dowlais (in 1856) that See also:Bessemer See also:steel was first rolled into rails, but the use of puddled See also:iron was not wholly abandoned at the works till 1882. It has now eighteen blast furnaces, and extensive collieries are also worked by the See also:company, and large See also:branch works were opened on the See also:sea-See also:board at See also:Cardiff in 1891. Cyfarthfa was converted into steel works in 1883.

The iron ore used is mainly imported from See also:

Spain. Merthyr Vale is almost entirely dependent on coal-See also:mining and has one of the largest collieries in south See also:Wales (See also:Nixon's See also:Navigation). The See also:population of this district more than quintupled between 1881 and 1901. From 185o the See also:government of the town was vested in a See also:local board of See also:health which in 1894 became an See also:urban district See also:council; by See also:charter granted on the 5th of June 1905, it was vested in a See also:corporation consisting of a See also:mayor, 8 aldermen and 24 councillors. It was made a See also:county See also:borough from the 1st of See also:April 1908. It comprises about 17,759. acres, is divided into eight wards and besides the older town, it includes Penydanan (1 m. N.E.), Dowlais (2 M. N.E.), See also:Plymouth (1 m. S.) and Merthyr Vale (5 m. S.). It has a See also:separate See also:commission of the See also:peace, and in See also:conjunction with See also:Aberdare and See also:Mountain Ash, has had a stipendiary See also:magistrate since 1829. The See also:parliamentary borough which was created and given one member in 1832 and a second in 1867, includes the See also:parish of Aberdare and parts of the parishes of Llanwonno, Merthyr Tydfil and Vainor (See also:Brecon).

There is an electric See also:

tramway (completed in 1901) from the town to Cefn and Dowlais. In 1901 about 5o%of the population above three years of See also:age spoke both Welsh and See also:English, 71% spoke Welsh only, and the See also:remainder English only. The ancient parish of Merthyr Tydfil has been divided into five ecclesiastical parishes (Merthyr, Cyfarthfa, Dowlais, Pentrebach, and Penydarran) and part of another parish (Treharris). These six parishes See also:form the rural deanery of Merthyr in the archdeaconry and See also:diocese of See also:Llandaff, and in 1906 had nine churches and fifteen See also:mission rooms. An inscribed stone (Artbeu) has been built into the east See also:wall of the parish See also:church; and two other inscribed stones removed from Abercar See also:Farm in the greater Taff valley now See also:lie in the parish See also:churchyard. The old structure of the parish church has been entirely removed except the See also:base of the tower. There is a See also:Roman See also:Catholic church in Penydarran See also:Park and 'another at Dowlais. The Nonconformists, of which the See also:chief denominations are the See also:Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodists—Wesleyan and Calvinistic—had in 1906 82 chapels, 49 of which were used for Welsh services and 33 for English. The public buildings include, besides the churches, a town See also:hall and See also:law courts (1898), See also:drill hall (1866), library, See also:market See also:house, a county intermediate school, See also:general See also:hospital built in 1887 and enlarged in 1897, and an See also:isolation See also:fever hospital, a See also:theatre (1894) and a See also:fountain presented by See also:Sir W. T. See also:Lewis as a memorial to the pioneers of the town's See also:industry. At Dowlais there are public See also:baths (1900) and a See also:free library which have been provided by the owners of the Dowlais Works, See also:Oddfellows' hall (187.8), and a fever hospital (1869).

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Thomas Town there is a recreation ground of 16 acres, formed in 1902. In 19o8 the corporation See also:purchased Cyfarthfa See also:Castle (formerly the See also:residence of the Crawshay See also:family) with a park of 62 acres including a See also:lake of 6 acres. The Roman road from Cardiff and Gelligaer to Brecon passed through Merthyr and the remains of a supposed fort were discovered in Penydarran park in 19o2. Three See also:miles to the north of Merthyr, on a See also:limestone See also:rock about 47o ft. above the lesser (eastern) Taff are the ruins of Morlais Castle, built about 1286 by See also:Gilbert de See also:Clare About the 5th See also:century, during the See also:rule of the Persian See also:Sassanian See also:dynasty, Mery was the seat of a See also:Christian archbishopric of the Nestorian Church. The town was occupied (A.D. 646) by the lieutenants of the See also:caliph See also:Othman, and was constituted the capital of See also:Khorasan. From this city as their base the See also:Arabs, under Kotaiba (Qotaiba) See also:ibn Moslim, See also:early in the 8th century brought under subjection Balkh, Bokhara, See also:Ferghana and Kashgaria, and penetrated into See also:China as far as the province of Kan-suh. In the latter part of the 8th century Mery became See also:obnoxious to See also:Islam as the centre of heretical propaganda preached by See also:Mokanna (q.v.). In 874 Arab rule in Central Asia came to an end. During their dominion Merv, like Samarkand and Bokhara, was one of the great See also:schools of learning, and the celebrated historian Yaqut studied in its See also:libraries. In 1040 the Seljuk See also:Turks crossed the See also:Oxus from the north, and having defeated Masud, See also:sultan of See also:Ghazni, raised Toghrul Beg, See also:grandson of Seljuk, to the See also:throne of Persia, See also:founding the Seljukian dynasty, with its capital at See also:Nishapur. A younger See also:brother of Toghrul, Daud, took See also:possession of Mery and Herat.

Toghrul was succeeded by his See also:

nephew See also:Alp Arslan (the Great See also:Lion), who was buried at Merv. It was about this time that Mery reached the See also:zenith of her See also:glory. During the reign of Sultan Sanjar or Sinjar of the same house, in the See also:middle of the 11th century, Mery was overrun by the See also:Turkish tribes of the Ghuzz from beyond the Oxus. It eventually passed under the sway of the rulers of Khwarizm (Khiva). In 1221 Mery opened its See also:gates to Tule, son of Jenghiz See also:Khan, chief of the See also:Mongols, on which occasion most of the inhabitants are said to have been butchered. From this time forward the city began to decay. In the early part of the 14th century the town was made the seat of a Christian archbishopric of the Eastern Church. On the See also:death of the grandson of Jenghiz Khan Mery was included (1380) in the possessions of Timur-i-Leng (Tamerlane), Mongol See also:prince of Samarkand. In 1505 the city was occupied by the Uzbegs, who five years later were expelled by See also:Ismail Khan, the founder of the Safawid dynasty of Persia. Mery remained in the hands of Persia until r 787, when it was captured by the emir of Bokhara. Seven years later the Bokharians razed the city to the ground, See also:broke down the dams, and converted the district into a See also:waste. When Sir Alexander See also:Burnes traversed the country in 1832, the Khivans were the rulers of Merv.

About this time the Tekke Turkomans, then living on the Heri-rud, were forced by the Persians to migrate northward. The Khivans contested the advance of the Tekkes, but ultimately, about 1856, the latter became the See also:

sovereign See also:power in the country, and remained so until the Russians occupied the oasis in 1883. The ruins of Old Mery See also:cover an area of over 15 sq. m. They consist of a square citadel (See also:Bairam All Khan kalah), 1 m. in See also:circuit, built by a son of Tamerlane and destroyed by the Bokharians, and another kalah or walled See also:inclosure known as Abdullah Khan. North from these lies the old capital of the See also:Seljuks, known as Sultan Kalah, and destroyed by the Mongols in 1219. Its most conspicuous feature is the See also:burial See also:mosque of Sultan Sanjar, reputedly dating from the 12th century. East of the old Seljuk capital is Giaur Kalah, the Mery of the Nestorian era and the capital of the Arab princes. North of the old Seljuk capital are the ruins of Iskender Kalah, probably to be identified with the ancient Mery of the Seleucid dynasty.

End of Article: MERV, MERU

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