WArdashir was a Sasanian prince, who ruled Marv from ca. 240 to 262. He was either a brother or son of the Sasanian king Ardashir I, who had installed him as the ruler of Marv, which was the outpost of his empire in the north-east.
WThe Dahae, also known as the Daae, Dahas or Dahaeans were an Iranian people of ancient Central Asia. A confederation of three tribes – the Parni, Xanthii and Pissuri – the Dahae lived in an area now comprising much of modern Turkmenistan. The area has consequently been known as Dahestan, Dahistan and Dihistan.
WThe Battle of Dandanaqan was fought in 1040 between the Seljuqs and the Ghaznavid Empire near the city of Merv. The battle ended with a Seljuq victory and brought down the Ghaznavid domination in the Khorasan.
WThe First Battle of Geok Tepe was the main event in the 1879 Russian expedition against the Akhal Tekke Turcomans during the Russian conquest of Turkestan. Lomakin marched 275 miles to the Goek Teppe fortress, mismanaged the attack and was forced to retreat. Next year, this was reversed by Skobelev by the second Battle of Geok Tepe.
WThe Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881 was the main event in the 1880/81 Russian campaign to conquer the Teke Turkomans. Its effect was to give the Russian Empire control over most of what is now Turkmenistan, thereby nearly completing the Russian conquest of Central Asia.
WKhorāsān, sometimes called Greater Khorasan, is a historical region which formed the northeast province of Greater Iran. The name signifies "the Land of the Sun" or "the Eastern Province".
WThe Battle of Merv occurred on 2 December 1510 as a result of the Uzbek invasion of Khorasan. It ended with a decisive victory for the Safavid dynasty. The result was that the Safavids regained control of the Khorasan region.
WThe Panjdeh incident was an armed engagement between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between the British Empire and the Russian Empire caused by the Russian expansion south-eastwards towards the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj (India). After nearly completing the Russian conquest of Central Asia the Russians captured an Afghan border fort. Seeing a threat to India, Britain came close to threatening war but both sides backed down and the matter was settled by diplomacy. The effect was to stop further Russian expansion in Asia, except for the Pamir Mountains and to define the north-western border of Afghanistan.
WThe Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) under Andragoras, in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I (r. c. 171–132 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
WMagtymguly Pyragy was a Turkmen spiritual leader, philosophical poet, and sufi who is considered to be the father of the Turkmen literature and the most famous figure in Turkmen literary history.