Great Seljuk Empire in the context of "Tughril"

Merv (Turkmen: Merw [ˈmeɾβ]; Persian: مرو [ˈmæɹv]), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian city in Central Asia, located on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium BC until the 18th century AD. It changed hands repeatedly throughout history. Under the Achaemenid Empire, it was the center of the satrapy of Margiana. It was subsequently ruled by Hellenistic Kings, Parthians, Sasanians, Arabs, Ghaznavids, Seljuqs, Khwarazmians and Timurids, among others.

Merv served as the capital of several polities throughout its history. In the beginning of the 9th century, Merv was the seat of the caliph al-Ma'mun and the capital of the entire Islamic caliphate. It served later as the seat of the Tahirid governors of Khorasan. In the 11th–12th centuries, Merv was the capital of the Great Seljuk Empire and remained so until its ultimate fall. Around this time, Merv turned into a chief centre of Islamic science and culture, attracting as well as producing renowned poets, musicians, physicians, mathematicians and astronomers. The great Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, among others, spent a number of years working at the observatory in Merv. As Persian geographer and traveller al-Istakhri wrote of Merv: "Of all the countries of Iran, these people were noted for their talents and education." Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi counted as many as 10 giant libraries in Merv, including one within a major mosque that contained 12,000 volumes.

Anatolian Seljuk architecture, or simply Seljuk architecture, refers to building activity that took place under the Sultanate of Rum (late 11th to 13th centuries), ruled by an offshoot of the Seljuk dynasty that emerged from the Great Seljuk Empire (11th–12th centuries) alongside various other local dynasties. The Anatolian Seljuks patronized their own tradition of architecture whose surviving examples are generally found in present-day Turkey. Anatolian Seljuk architecture was eclectic and influenced by multiple traditions including Armenian, Byzantine, Iranian, and Syrian architecture. Unlike earlier Great Seljuk architecture to the east, their buildings were generally constructed in stone and featured significant stone-carved decoration as well as tile decoration. While the Seljuk Sultanate declined and ended in the late 13th century, architecture continued to flourish and diversify under the smaller Beylik states in Anatolia, which included the early Ottomans.
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