Abstract

This study investigates the urban transformation of Merv (known as Marw al-Shahijan) during the Great Seljuk period (11-12th centuries CE), when it served as the imperial capital in Khurasan. While previous scholarship has emphasized the Seljuk tendency of ruling from outside, maintaining a strategic separation from established Persianate urban centers, this study argues that Merv exemplifies a more sophisticated manifestation of nomadic statecraft. The Seljuks did not merely reside on the outskirts of Merv, but actively reconfigured the landscape to integrate the nomadic mobility with the requirements of an oasis capital.

The study identifies a three-stage evolution: first, the utilization of the ancient city (Gyaur Kala) as a nomadic stronghold and resource hub; second, the construction of the Sultan Kala walls and the consolidation of hydraulic control over the Murghab river’s canal networks; and third, the monumentalization of the city center, culminating in the construction of Sultan Sanjar’s mausoleum. In this process, Merv featured dual centers of power. The Shahriyar Ark functioned as the Sultan’s residence and administrative nucleus. Its location in the northeast corner of the Sultan Kala served a dual purpose: providing a secure and isolated space for the nomadic elites while maintaining immediate access to the northern steppe. In the late period, the construction of Sanjar’s mausoleum at the city’s geometric center became a symbolic focal point, translating nomadic authority into the permanent architectural language of the Perso-Islamic world.

By integrating archaeological evidence with historical texts, this study demonstrates that Merv’s spatial organization was both concentric and radial, as it structured social hierarchies through space, while projecting power through the water system. The Seljuks’ experimental urbanism served as a crucial precursor to the later mausoleum cities of the Mongol era, such as Sultaniyya and Almaliq. Thus, the study of Seljuk Merv offers a key example of the nomadic empire’s approach to urban governance.