MERV, milrf. A region in Central Asia now forming a district in the Russian Trans-Caspian province. a short distance from the northeastern corner of Persia (Map: Asia. ('entral. H 3). Its area is estimated at about 49.000 square miles. The northern and larger hart is a vast sandy plain with very little vegetation. The southern part is more elevated and watered by the Slur ghat) and its tributaries. The summers are long and hot, and the annual average temperature is from about 57' to 60', ranging from —6° to 113°. The precipitation is very meagre, espe cially in the northern part. The chief occupation of the inhabitants is agriculture. which is made possible only by irrigation. Unirrigated regions are utilized to some extent for stock-raising by the nomadic tribes. The chief centre of agri culture is the oasis of :Merv, to which the name was formerly confined. The water for irrigation is supplied by the ,..Nlurghalt and a few of its tributaries. Wheat and rye are the chief cereals raised in the irrigated portions of the territory. Transportation is effected principally by the use of pack animals, although the territory is crossed by the Trans-Caspian Railway line. Near the railway line are the Imperial estates of Alurghab, with extensive irrigation works. The population of the district was 119,332 in 1897, composed. with the exception of a few Russian Jews and Persians. of Tekke Turkomans, divided into a number of clans. A considerable portion of them are nomadic. They all profess ]slain.
The capital of the district. known as New :Merv. is situated on the Murghab and the Trans Caspian Railway, It has a number of schools, churches, a meteorological observatory, and some trade. Population. in 1897. 5727. consisting of
Russians. Turkomans. Armenians, Persians, and dews. About. 25 miles east of New Alery are the ruins of three cities, of which one, existing in the time of Strabo, was• according to that his torian. of great extent and importance.
Mery is a very ancient settlement. its name (.11ourtO being mentioned ill t Zond-A'esta. It once formed a satrapy of the Persian Empire. An archbishoprie of the Nestorian Church existed there as as the fifth century. Occupied by the Arabs in the seventh century, the city of :dery became the capital of Khorasan and a great intellectual centre, rising to still greater im portance in the eleventh century while under the rule of the Seljuks. The prosperity of Mery Came to an cal with the invasion of the Turko mans about the middle of the eleventh century. The district was almost entirely Ilepopulated by the Mongols under Tulai in 1221. At the end of the fourteenth century it fell into the hands of Timm-. and after a short occupation by the l'ebeks at the beginning of the sixteenth century woo taken by the Persians• under whose rule it remained until 1787. when it was oecupied and later entirely devastated by the Bokharians.
About the middle of the nineteenth century it was invaded by the Tekke Turkomans, who be came the ruling race. In 18S4 „Mery was annexed by Russia.