The Black Sands are crossed by the caravan roads from Gurganj to Nasa, Abivard and Merv and from Amul to Merv, with wells and a few desert stations.
Turkmen clans water at the wells and winter at the desert edge by the Khurasan oases, where since the eleventh century they have been a burden and a source of soldiers. In 1153 their kin sacked the Khurasan towns.
Who holds it
- Title
- no chief named for 1200
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source checked names a chief for 1199-1200.
Overlord
The Khwarazmshah claims the desert roads; the clans pay service or tribute when he is strong.
How things stand that morning
No Turkmen rising recorded that winter; the oasis edges are Khwarazmian, the desert theirs.
Wealth
Herds, camels hired to the caravans, felt and hides.
Military
Mounted archers in clan war-bands; no numbers.
Customs
Clan chiefs; wells held by clans; winter at the oasis edges.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: A reconstruction; nothing dated for 1200.
On the map: The desert is drawn whole for the Turkmen; the oasis edges are approximate.
Primary sources for Turkmen
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The History of the World Conqueror, Ata-Malik Juvayni (1252 to 1260). Written for the Mongols but with a long retrospective on the powers they destroyed. Read online
- The Life of Sultan Jalal al-Din Mankubirti, Shihab al-Din Muhammad al-Nasawi (about 1241, at Aleppo). A Khwarazmian secretary's life of the last Khwarazmshah. Read online
Sources and studies
- Encyclopaedia Iranica: Abivard
- G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905): towns, districts and roads, used from the researcher's knowledge of the text, not re-read for this file
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.