Soltangala (Turkm. Soltan gala) is the largest historical part of Ancient Merv. Its name comes from “Sultan kala” and translates as “fortress of the sultan”. The emergence of this city is connected with a state coup in the Muslim caliphate, during which Abu Muslim, the leader of the Abbasid uprising, brought a new dynasty to power.
It was Abu Muslim who erected new monumental structures to the west of the walls of the Gyaur-Kala fortress (Turkm. Gäwur gala), which was located in the center of Merv of the antiquity and early Middle Ages until the arrival of the Arabs. The Soltangala area was surrounded by a wall and became the core of the new city of the Islamic period, which lasted until the arrival of the Mongols.
A characteristic feature of Soltangala are “kushks” (from Persian Kushk – “pavilion”, “kiosk”, “mansion”), a type of fortified building unique to Central Asia in the era of the Abbasids. They were located both directly within the city walls and beyond them. They are considered evidence of the prosperity of Merv in the Middle Ages.
The city elite lived in two-story “kushks”, which were fortified palaces with corrugated walls. The latter give them a unique appearance that attracts attention at first glance. The first floor was probably used for household needs, the second contained living quarters.
The largest and best-preserved Abbasid “kushk” in Merv is the Great Kyz Qala (in Turkmen “maiden fortress”), located just outside the western wall of Soltangala. This structure consisted of 17 rooms surrounding a central courtyard. It is quite well preserved and is the “calling card” of Merv.
In the nearby Small Kyz Qala there were unusually thick walls with deep corrugations, as well as many internal stairs leading to living quarters on the second floor. Unlike the Great Kyz Qala, the Small one is preserved much worse, not to mention most of the other “kushks”.
Soltangala of the Seljuk era
Under the Seljuks, medieval Merv experienced its second heyday, which began with the conquest of the city by Tughrul in 1037. Sanjar made it his residence, which in fact turned the city into the center of a large multicultural empire, moreover lying on one of the busiest roads of the Great Silk Road.
Evidence of this period of prosperity can be found throughout Soltangala. Many of the buildings from the Seljuk period are concentrated in the citadel of Soltangala, which is called Shahriyar-Ark (translated from Persian – “citadel of the king”) and is located on its eastern side. In the center of the Shahrriyar-Ark there was a palace, probably built by Sanjar.
The walls of mud brick indicate that this palace, although it was quite small, consisted of high one-story rooms surrounding a central courtyard, as well as four axial iwans at the entrance from each side. Low areas nearby apparently indicate the presence of a large garden with an artificial lake.
Another notable structure from the Seljuk period in Shahriyar-Ark is the kepter-khana (translated from Persian “dovecote”). This mysterious building, one of the best preserved in the entire Merv oasis, consists of one long and narrow room without windows with many tiers of niches on the walls of not entirely clear purpose.
Some sources believe that the kepter-khana (there are more of them in other places of Merv and Central Asia) was a dovecote used for breeding pigeons with the subsequent collection of their droppings, which were used in growing melons for which Merv was famous. According to another version, there was a library or even a treasury here.
The best preserved of all the structures of Merv is the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar of the 12th century, also located in Soltangala. This is the largest of the Seljuk mausoleums in the region, as well as the first dated mosque-mausoleum complex, the form of which later became generally accepted.
The mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar is square, 27 meters (89 feet) on each side, with two entrances on opposite sides. A large central dome, supported by an octagonal system of ribs and arches, covers the interior space. It is believed that at one time the dome of the structure had a blue color.
In the old days, approaching caravans could see the mausoleum while still a day’s journey away from the city. The decoration of the mausoleum, made in the typical early Seljuk style, was conservative, with interior stucco and geometric brick decor outside, which is now mostly lost.
The last notable architectural monument in this part of Ancient Merv are the walls of Soltangala from the Seljuk period. These fortifications, which are quite well preserved, began as constructions of mud brick from 8 to 9 meters (from 26 to 30 feet) high, inside which there were chambers from which defenders could shoot with a bow.
Every 15–35 meters (from 49 to 115 feet) there were towers in the shape of a horseshoe. However, these walls turned out to be ineffective, since their thickness was insufficient to withstand even the comparatively clumsy throwing artillery of the Middle Ages. By the middle of the 12th century the galleries were filled in, and the wall was significantly strengthened.
A second, smaller wall was built in front of the main wall of Soltangala. And finally, the suburbs of the medieval city, known today as Iskender-Kala, were surrounded by a wall 5 meters (16 feet) thick. Three walls held back the Mongol army at least during one of the offensives before the city surrendered in 1221.
During archaeological research, much pottery from the Abbasid and Seljuk times was found, primarily in Gyaur-Kala, within the city walls of Soltangala and the citadel of Shahriyar-Ark. Among it there are both whole products and separate fragments, which still allow us to judge the style and production technologies.
The tableware from Gyaur-Kala was mainly late Abbasid and consisted mainly of bowls painted with red paint with a geometric pattern. In the ceramics found on the walls of the city of Soltangala, colored yellow and green ceramics of the 11th–12th centuries predominate, similar to modern styles common in Nishapur.
In the palace of Shahriyar-Ark turquoise and black bowls were found, as well as deposits of ceramics in the Mongolian style, possibly associated with an attempt to restore the city under the Ilkhanate (state of the Hulaguids).
Also from this era is a ceramic mask used to decorate walls, found among the ruins of what is believed — not without reason — to be a Buddhist temple built by the Mongols in the southern suburb of Soltangala after the conquest of the city.