Latest / The Story of Uzbekistan: Silk Road Kingdoms and Soviet Legacy — Fexingo History / The Silk Road's Lost Cities: Merv and Termez
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of time on Samarkand and Bukhara, but there are other ancient cities in this region that were just as important in their day — and they're far less visited today. I'm thinking of Merv and Termez. Luna: Oh, Merv — I've heard that name. Wasn't it supposed to be enormous at some point? Lucas: Under the Seljuks, in the 11th and 12th centuries, Merv was probably the largest city in the world — population estimates go as high as half a million. It was a major stop on the Silk Road, and it was famous for its libraries, its mosques, and its cosmopolitan population: Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Nestorian Christians, and Muslims all coexisted there. Luna: What happened to it? Lucas: The Mongols under Tolui, Genghis Khan's son, sacked it in 1221. Contemporary accounts say they killed hundreds of thousands of people. The irrigation canals that sustained its agriculture were destroyed, and the city never really recovered. Today, the ruins — known as the Merv oasis — are in Turkmenistan, near the modern town of Mary. Luna: That's heartbreaking. But also fascinating that there's so much there to explore. Lucas: Exactly. And then there's Termez, which is on the Amu Darya in southern Uzbekistan, right on the border with Afghanistan. It has an even older history — it was founded by the Greeks after Alexander the Great's conquest, and it became a major Buddhist center under the Kushan Empire. Lucas: If today's conversation has felt worthwhile — like a coffee you'd happily pay for — you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that helps us keep this ad-free and focused on the stories that matter. Luna: Absolutely. It's listeners like you who make deep dives like this possible. Lucas: So back to Termez. The most remarkable finds there are the Buddhist monasteries — especially Fayaz Tepe and Kara Tepe — which were excavated by Soviet archaeologists in the 1960s and 70s. They uncovered stunning wall paintings and sculptures that show a blend of Hellenistic, Persian, and Indian styles. Luna: Wait — Buddhist art in Uzbekistan? I thought Central Asia was entirely Islamic by the medieval period. Lucas: Well, Buddhism was widespread here from about the 1st to the 7th centuries AD, especially under the Kushans and then the Hephthalites. Termez was a key stop for monks traveling between India and China. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited in the 7th century and described a thriving Buddhist community. But after the Arab conquest in the 8th century, Islam gradually became dominant, and Buddhism faded. Lucas: Another iconic structure in Termez is the Zurmala Stupa, which is a massive tower made of mud brick. It's about 12 meters tall and dates to the 1st or 2nd century AD — one of the few surviving above-ground Buddhist monuments in Central Asia. Luna: I'd love to see that. It sounds like a completely different world from the Timurid madrasas we usually talk about. Lucas: It really is. And Merv has its own astonishing pre-Islamic layers — the site called Gyaur Kala was a major city under the Sassanians and earlier under the Seleucids. The name 'Gyaur' means 'infidel' in Persian, which reflects the later Islamic perspective on the Zoroastrian and Buddhist past. Lucas: What makes Merv especially significant is its role as a center of learning. The Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk founded one of his famous Nizamiyya madrasas there, and the city produced scholars like the astronomer Omar Khayyam, who worked there for a time — though he's more associated with Nishapur. Luna: So it was like a medieval Harvard? Lucas: In a way, yes. And the surviving architecture is still impressive. The Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, the last great Seljuk ruler, is a massive brick dome that stands in the middle of the ruins. It's one of the few structures that survived the Mongol destruction, probably because the Mongols respected Sanjar's reputation. Luna: What's the state of these sites today? Are they being preserved? Lucas: Merv is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but it faces challenges from looting, erosion, and the fact that it's in a remote desert area. Termez has seen some tourism development, but it's still off the beaten path. The Soviet excavations were extensive, but many artifacts are now in museums in Tashkent or Moscow. Lucas: One of the most tragic aspects is that these cities were so thoroughly destroyed that we only have fragments of their glory. But what remains — the murals, the stupa, the mausoleum — gives us a glimpse of a truly cosmopolitan Silk Road world, where Greeks, Indians, Persians, and Turks all left their mark. Luna: It makes you wonder what else is still buried out there. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's the thrill of Central Asian archaeology — there's so much still waiting to be discovered.