State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv" *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Turkmenistan
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii
Reference	886
Region **	Asia-Pacific
Coordinates	37°39′46″N 62°11′33″E / 37.66278°N 62.1925°E / 37.66278; 62.1925Coordinates: 37°39′46″N 62°11′33″E / 37.66278°N 62.1925°E / 37.66278; 62.1925
Inscription history
Inscription	1999 (23rd Session)
Location of Merv in Turkmenistan
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

History of Greater Iran
until the rise of modern nation-states
Pre-modern
Pre-Islamic  BCE Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250-125 Parthian Empire 248–CE 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sassanid Empire 224–651 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879
Islamic  Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghurid dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuq Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–353 Kartids dynasty 1231–389 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925

Merv (Persian: مرو, Marv), formerly Achaemenid Satrapy of Margiana, and later Alexandria and Antiochia in Margiana (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Μαργιανής), was a major oasis-city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, located near today's Mary in Turkmenistan. Several cities have existed on this site, which is significant for the interchange of culture and politics at a site of major strategic value. It is claimed that Merv was briefly the largest city in the world in the 12th century.^[1] The site of ancient Merv has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan)

History[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Merv's origins are prehistoric: archaeological surveys have revealed many survivals of village life as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. Under the name of Mouru, Merv is mentioned with Bakhdi (Balkh) in the geography of the Zend-Avesta (commentaries on the Avesta). Under the Achaemenid dynasty Merv is mentioned as being a place of some importance: under the name of Margu it occurs as part of one of the satrapies in the Behistun inscriptions (ca 515 BC) of the Persian monarch Darius Hystaspis. The ancient city appears to have been re-founded by Cyrus the Great (559 - 530 BC), but the Achaemenid levels are deeply covered by later strata at the site. (See also Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex.)

Alexander the Great's visit to Merv is merely legendary, but the city was named Alexandria for a time. After Alexander's death, Merv became the chief city of the province of Margiana of the Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanid states. Merv was renamed Antiochia Margiana, by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Soter, who rebuilt and expanded the city at the site presently known as Gyaur Gala (Turkish Gayur Kala) (Fortress).

After the Sassanid Ardashir I (220-240 AD) took Merv, the study of numismatics picks up the thread: a long unbroken direct Sassanian rule of four centuries is documented from the unbroken series of coins originally minted at Merv. During this period Merv was home to practitioners of a wide range of different religions beside the official Zoroastrianism of the Sassanids, including many Buddhists, Manichaeans, and East Syrian Christians. Between the 6th (553) and 11th centuries AD, Merv was the seat of an East Syrian metropolitan province.

Arab occupation and influence[link]

Sassanian rule came to an end when the last Sassanian ruler, Yazdegerd III (632-651) was murdered not far from the city and the Sassanian military governor surrendered to the approaching Arab army. The city was occupied by lieutenants of the caliph Umar, and became the capital of the Umayyad province of Khorasan. In 671, Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan sent 50,000 Arab troops to Merv as a colony. This colony retained its native Kufan sympathies and became the nucleus of Khurasan.^[2] Using this city as their base, the Arabs, led by Qutayba ibn Muslim, brought under subjection large parts of Central Asia, including Balkh, Bokhara, Fergana and Kashgaria, and penetrated into China as far as the province of Gansu early in the 8th century.^[3] Merv, and Khorasan in general was to become one of the first parts of the Persian-speaking world to become majority-Muslim. Arab immigration to the area was substantial. A Chinese captured at Talas, Du Huan, was brought to Baghdad and toured the caliphate. He observed that in Merv, Khurasan, Arabs and Persians lived in mixed concentrations.^[4]

Merv reached renewed importance in February 748 when the Iranian general Abu Muslim (d. 755) declared a new Abbasid dynasty at Merv, expanding and re-founding the city, and, in the name of the Abbasid line, used the city as a base of rebellion against the Umayyad caliphate. After the Abbasids were established in Baghdad Abu Muslim continued to rule Merv as a semi-independent prince until his eventual assassination. Indeed, Merv was the center of Abbasid partisanship for the duration of the Abbasid revolution, and later on became a consistent source of political support for the Abbasid rulers in Baghdad, and the governorship of Khurasan at Merv was considered one of the most important political figures of the Caliphate. The influential Barmakid family, for example, was based in Merv and played an important part in transferring Greek knowledge (established in Merv since the days of the Seleucids and Greco-Bactrians) into the Arab world.

Throughout the Abbasid era, Merv remained the capital and most important city of Khurasan. During this time, the Arab historian Al-Muqaddasi called Merv “delightful, fine, elegant, brilliant, extensive, and pleasant.” Merv's architecture perhaps provided the inspiration for the Abbasid re-planning of Baghdad. The city was notable for being a home for immigrants from the Arab lands as well as from Sogdia and elsewhere in Central Asia (Herrmann 1999). Merv's importance to the Abbasids was highlighted in the period from 813 to 818 when the temporary residency of the caliph al-Ma'mun effectively made Merv the capital of the Muslim world. Merv was also the center of a major 8th-century Neo-Mazdakite movement led by al-Muqanna, the “Veiled Prophet”, who gained many followers by claiming to be an incarnation of God and heir to Abu Muslim; the Khurramiyya inspired by him persisted in Merv until the 12th century.

During this period Merv, like Samarkand and Bukhara, was one of the great cities of Muslim scholarship; the celebrated historian Yaqut studied in its libraries. Merv produced a number of scholars in various branches of knowledge, such as Islamic law, hadith, history, and literature. Several scholars have the name Marwazi المروزي designating them as hailing from Merv, including the famous Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. The city continued to have a substantial Christian community. In 1009 the Archbishop of Merv sent a letter to the Patriarch at Baghdad asking that the Keraits be allowed to fast less than other Nestorian Christians.^[5]

As the caliphate weakened, Arab rule in Merv was replaced by that of the Persian general Tahir b. al -Husayn and his Tahirid dynasty in 821. The Tahirids were in turn replaced in Merv by the first the Saffarids, then the Samanids and later the Ghaznavids.

Turks in Merv[link]

In 1037, the Seljuks, a clan of Oghuz Turks moving from the steppes east of the Aral Sea, peacefully took over Merv under the leadership of Toghril Beg - the Ghaznavid sultan Masud was extremely unpopular in the city. Togrul's brother Çagry stayed in Merv as the Seljuk domains grew to include the rest of Khurasan and Iran, and it subsequently became a favorite city of the Seljuk leadership. Alp Arslan and his descendant Sultan Sanjar were both buried at Merv.

It is during this period that Merv expanded to its greatest size – Arab and Persian geographers termed it “the mother of the world”, the “rendezvous of great and small”, the “chief city of Khurasan” and the capital of the eastern Islamic world. Written sources also attest to a large library and madrasa founded by Nizam al-Mulk, as well as many other major cultural institutions. Perhaps most importantly, Merv was said to have a market that is “the best of the major cities of Iran and Khurasan” (Herrmann 1999). It is believed that Merv was the largest city in the world from 1145 to 1153, with a population of 200,000.[1].

Sanjar's rule, marked by conflict with the Kara-Khitai and Khwarazmians, ended in 1153 when the Turkish Ghuzz nomads from beyond the Amu Darya pillaged the city. Subsequently Merv changed hands between the Khwarazmians of Khiva, the Ghuzz, and the Ghurids, and began to lose importance relative to Khurasan's other major city, Nishapur.

Mongols in Merv[link]

In 1221, Merv opened its gates to Tule, son of Genghis Khan, chief of the Mongols, on which occasion most of the inhabitants are said to have been butchered. The Persian historian Juvayni, writing a generation after the destruction of Merv, wrote

“The Mongols ordered that, apart from four hundred artisans. .., the whole population, including the women and children, should be killed, and no one, whether woman or man, be spared. To each [Mongol soldier] was allotted the execution of three or four hundred Persians. So many had been killed by nightfall that the mountains became hillocks, and the plain was soaked with the blood of the mighty.”

Some historians^[who?] believe that over one million people died in the aftermath of the city's capture, including hundreds of thousands of refugees from elsewhere, making it one of the most bloody captures of a city in world history.

Excavations revealed drastic rebuilding of the city's fortifications in the aftermath, but the prosperity of the city was over. The Mongol invasion was to spell the end for Merv and indeed other major centres for more than a century. In the early part of the 14th century, the town was made the seat of a Christian archbishopric of the Eastern Church. By 1380 Merv belonged to the empire of Timur (Tamerlane).

Uzbeks in Merv[link]

In 1505, the city was occupied by the Uzbeks, who five years later were expelled by Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Persia. It was in this period that a large dam (the 'Soltanbent') on the river Murghab was restored by a Persian nobleman, and the settlement which grew up in the area thus irrigated became known as 'Baýramaly', by which name it is referred to in some 19th-century texts. Merv remained in the hands of Persia until 1787, when it was captured by the Emir of Bokhara. Seven years later, the Bukharans razed the city to the ground, broke down the dams, and converted the district into a waste. The entire population of the city and the surrounding area of about 100,000 were then deported in several stages to the Bukharan oasis. Being nearly all Persian-speaking Shi'as, they resisted assimilation into the Sunni population of Bukhara, although they spoke the same language. These Marvis survive today, and were listed as "Iranis/Iranians" in Soviet censuses through the 1980s, and locate them in Samarkand as well as Bukhara and the area in between on the Zarafshan river.

When Sir Alexander Burnes traversed the country in 1832, Merv belonged to the Khanate of Khiva. About this time, the Tekke Turkomans, then living on the Tejen River, were forced by the Persians to migrate northward. Khiva contested the advance of the Tekkes, but ultimately, about 1856, the latter became the sovereign power in the country, and remained so until the Russians occupied the oasis in 1883. The arrival of Russians triggered the Panjdeh Incident of the Great Game between the British Empire and Imperial Russia.

Remains[link]

Some exploratory excavations at Merv were conducted in 1885^[6] by the Russian general A.V. Komarov, the governor of the Transcaspian oblast, 1883–89; Komarov employed his Tsarist troops as excavators and published his collection of trophy artifacts and coins from the area in 1900.^[7] The first fully professional dig was directed by Valentin Alekseevich Zhukovsky of the Imperial Archaeological Commission, in 1890 and published in 1894.^[8] The American Carnegie Institute's excavations were under the direction of a geologist, Raphael Pumpelly, and a German archaeologist, Hubert Schmidt.

Merv is currently the focus of the Ancient Merv Project (initially as the International Merv Project).^[9] From 1992 to 2000, a joint team of archaeologists from Turkmenistan and the UK have made remarkable discoveries. In 2001, a new collaboration was started between the Institute of Archaeology, University College London and the Turkmen authorities.^{[citation needed]} This Ancient Merv Project is concerned with the complex conservation and management issues posed by this remarkable site, furthering our understanding of the site through archaeological research, and disseminating the results of the work to the widest possible audience.

Organization of remains[link]

Merv consists of a few discrete walled cities very near to each other, each of which was constructed on uninhabited land by builders of different eras, used, and then abandoned and never rebuilt. Four walled cities correspond to the chief periods of Merv's importance: the oldest, Erkgala, corresponds to Achaemenid Merv, and is the smallest of the three. Gäwürgala, which surrounds Erkgala, comprises the Hellenistic and Sassanian metropolis and also served as an industrial suburb to the Abbasid/Seljuk city, Soltangala – by far the largest of the three. The smaller Timurid city was founded a short distance to the south and is now called Abdyllahangala. Various other ancient buildings are scattered between and around these four cities; all of the sites are preserved in the “Ancient Merv Archaeological Park” just north of the modern village of Baýramaly and thirty kilometers west of the large Soviet-built city of Mary (Herrmann 1993).

Gäwürgala[link]

The foundation of Gäwürgala (Turkmen take from Persian "Gabr Qala" ("Fortress of the Zoroastrians") occurred in the early Hellenistic era under the rule of the Seleucid king Antiochus I. The city was continuously inhabited under a series of Hellenistic rulers, by the Parthians, and subsequently under the Sassanids, who made it the capital of a satrapy. Gäwürgala was the capital of the Umayyad province of Khurasan and grew in importance as Khurasan became the most loyally Muslim part of the Iranian world during Islam's first two centuries.

Photo-textured 3D laser scan image of Gäwürgala town walls

Gäwürgala's most visible remaining structures are its defensive installations. Three walls, one built atop the next, are in evidence. A Seleucid wall, graduated in the interior and straight on the exterior, forms a platform for the second, larger wall, built of mudbricks and stepped on the interior. The form of this wall is similar to other Hellenistic fortresses found in Anatolia, though this unique for being made of mud-brick instead of stone. The third wall is possibly Sassanian and is built of larger bricks (Williams 2002). Surrounding the wall was a variety of pottery sherds, particularly Parthian ones. The size of these fortifications are evidence of Merv's importance during the pre-Islamic era; no pre-Islamic fortifications of comparable size have been found anywhere in the Garagum. Gäwürgala is also important for the vast amount of numismatic data that it has revealed; an unbroken series of Sassanian coins has been found there, hinting the extraordinary political stability of this period.

Even after the foundation of Soltangala by Abu Muslim at the start of the Abbasid dynasty, Gäwürgala persisted as a suburb of the larger Soltangala. In Gäwürgala are concentrated many Abbasid-era “industrial” buildings: pottery kilns, steel, iron and copper-working workshops and so on. A well-preserved pottery kiln has an intact vaulted arch support and a square firepit. Gyaur Gala seems to have been the craftsmens' quarters throughout the Abbasid and pre-Seljuk periods (Herrmann, “Seventh Season” 13) .

Soltangala[link]

Sultan Sanjar mausoleum.

Soltangala (from Sultan Qala," the sultan's fortress) is by far the largest of Merv's cities. Textual sources (Herrmann 1999) establish that it was Abu Muslim, the leader of the Abbasid rebellion, who symbolized the beginning of the new Caliphate by commissioning monumental structures to the west of the Gäwürgala walls, in what then became Soltangala. The area was quickly walled and became the core of medieval Merv; centuries of prosperity which followed are attested to by the many Abbasid-era köshks discovered in and outside of Soltangala. Kushks (Persian, Kushk, "pavilion", "kiosk"), which comprise the chief remains of Abbasid Merv, are a building type unique to Central Asia during this period. A kind of semi-fortified two-story palace whose corrugated walls give it a unique and striking appearance, köshks were the residences of Merv's elite. The second story of these structures comprised living quarters; the first story may have been used for storage. Parapets lined the roof, which was often used for living quarters as well. Merv's largest and best-preserved Abbasid köşk is the Greater Gyzgala (Turkmen, "maiden's fortress"), located just outside the Soltangala's western wall; this structure consisted of 17 rooms surrounding a central courtyard. The nearby Lesser Gyzgala had extraordinarily thick walls with deep corrugations, as well as multiple interior stairways leading to second-story living quarters. All of Merv's kushks are in precarious states of preservation (Herrmann 1999).

However, the most important of Soltangala's surviving buildings are Seljuk constructions. In the 11th century CE, the nomadic Oghuz Turks, formerly vassals of the Khwarazmshah in the northern steppes, began to move southward under the leadership of the Seljuk clan and its ruler Togrul Beg. Togrul's conquest of Merv in 1037 revitalized the city; under his descendants, especially Sanjar, who made it his residence, Merv found itself at the center of a large multicultural empire.

Evidence of this prosperity is found throughout the Soltangala. Many of these are concentrated in Soltangala's citadel, the Shahryar Ark (Persian, "the Sovereign's citadel") of the, located on its east side. In the center of the Sharhryar Ark is located the Seljuk palace probably built by Sanjar. The surviving mud brick walls lead to the conclusion that this palace, relatively small, was composed of tall single-story rooms surrounding a central court along with four axial iwans at the entrance to each side (Ettinghausen 276). Low areas nearby seem to indicate a large garden which included an artificial lake; similar gardens were found in other Central Asian palaces (Williams 2002). Unfortunately, any remnants of interior or exterior decoration have been lost due to erosion or theft.

Interior of Kepderihana, with a 3D laser scanner positioned for work

Exterior of Kepderihana's south wall

Another notable Seljuk structure within the Shahryar Ark is the kepderihana (from Persian, "Kaftar Khana, or “pigeon house”, i.e., the columbarium). This mysterious building, among the best-preserved in the whole Merv oasis, comprises one long and narrow windowless room with many tiers of niches across the walls. It is believed by some [sources] that the kepter khana (there are more elsewhere in Merv and Central Asia) was indeed a pigeon roost used to raise pigeons, in order to collect their dung which is used in growing the melons for which Merv was famous. Others, just as justifiably (Herrmann 1999), see the kepderihanas as libraries or treasuries, due to their location in high status areas next to important structures.

The best-preserved of all the structures in Merv is the 12th-century mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, also in Sultan Gala. It is the largest of Seljuk mausoleums and is also the first dated mosque-mausoleum complex, a form which was later to become common. It is square, 27 meters per side, with two entrances on opposite sides; a large central dome supported by an octagonal system of ribs and arches covers the interior (Ettinghausen 270). The dome's exterior was turquoise, and its height made it quite imposing; it was said that approaching caravans could see the mausoleum while still a day's march from the city. The mausoleum's decoration, in typical early Seljuk style, was conservative, with interior stucco work and geometric brick decoration, now mainly lost, on the outside (Ettinghausen 271). With the exception of the exterior decoration, the mausoleum is largely intact, and remains, just as is in the 12th century, Merv's main tourist attraction.

A final set of Seljuk remains are the walls of the Soltangala. These fortifications, which in large part still remain, began as 8 to 9 meter high mud brick structures, inside of which were chambers for defenders to shoot arrows from. There were horseshoe-shaped towers every 15 to 35 meters. These walls, however, did not prove to be effective because they were not of adequate thickness to withstand catapults and other artillery. By the mid-12th century, the galleries were filled in, and the wall was greatly strengthened. A secondary, smaller wall was built in front of the Soltangala's main wall, and finally the medieval city's suburbs – known today as Isgendergala – were enclosed by a 5 meter thick wall. The three walls sufficed to hold off the Mongol army for at least one of its offensives, before ultimately succumbing in 1221 (Herrmann 2000).

Many ceramics have also been recovered from the Abbasid and Seljuk eras, primarily from Gäwürgala, the city walls of Soltangala, and the Shahryar Ark. The Gäwürgala ware was primarily late Abbasid, and it consisted primarily of red slip-painted bowls with geometric designs. The pottery recovered from the Sultan Gala walls is dominated by 11th–12th-century color-splashed yellow and green pottery, similar to contemporary styles common in Nishapur (Herrmann 2000). Turquoise and black bowls were discovered in the Shahryar Ark palace, as well as an interesting deposit of Mongol-style pottery perhaps related to the city's unsuccessful re-foundation under the Il-khans. Also from this era is a ceramic mask used for decorating walls found among the ruins of what is believed – not without controversy – to be a Mongol-built Buddhist temple in the southern suburbs of Sultan Gala (Herrmann 1999).

Geography[link]

The oasis of Merv is situated on the Murghab River that flows down from Afghanistan, on the southern edge of the Karakum Desert, at 37°30’N and 62°E, about 230 miles (370 km) north of Herat, and 280 miles (450 km) south of Khiva. Its area is about 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²). The great chain of mountains which, under the names of Paropamisade and Hindu Kush, extends from the Caspian Sea to the Pamir Mountains is interrupted some 180 miles (290 km) south of Merv. Through or near this gap flow northwards in parallel courses the Tejen and Murgab rivers, until they lose themselves in the Karakum Desert. Thus they make Merv a sort of watch tower over the entrance into Afghanistan on the north-west and at the same time create a stepping-stone or étape between north-east Persia and the states of Bokhara and Samarkand.

Merv is advantageously situated in the inland delta of the Murghab River, which flows from its source in the Hindu Kush northwards through the Garagum desert. The Murghab delta region, known to the Greeks as Margiana, gives Merv two distinct advantages: first, it provides an easy southeast-northwest route from the Afghan highlands towards the lowlands of Karakum, the Amu Darya valley and Khwarezm. Second, the Murgab delta, being a large well-watered zone in the midst of the dry Karakum, serves as a natural stopping-point for the routes from northwest Iran towards Transoxiana – the Silk Roads. The delta, and thus Merv, lies at the junction of these two important routes: the northwest-southeast route to Herat and Balkh (and thus to the Indus and beyond) and the southwest-northeast route from Tus and Nishapur to Bukhara and Samarkand.

This place was an important stop on the Silk Road during the time of the Han dynasty. Here merchants could trade for fresh horses or camels and this was a very important oasis city.

Demographics[link]

The present inhabitants of the oasis are Turkomans of the Teke tribe and Tajiks. Other minorities include the Beluch/Baluch and the Brahui.

Economy[link]

The oasis is irrigated by an elaborate system of canals cut from the Murghab. The country has at all times been renowned throughout the East for its fertility. Every kind of cereal and many fruits grow in great abundance, e.g. wheat, millet, barley and melons, also rice and cotton. Cotton seeds from archaeological levels as far back as the 5th century are the first indication that cotton textiles were already an important economic component of the Sassanian city. Silkworms have been bred. The Turkomans possess a famous breed of horses and keep camels, sheep, cattle, asses and mules. Turkomans are excellent workers in silver and noted as armourers. One of the discoveries of the 1990s excavations was a 9th- to 10th-century workshop where crucible steel was being produced, confirming in detail contemporary Islamic reports: a major achievement in the history of technology.

Carpets from the region of Merv are sometimes considered superior to the Persian. They also make felts and a rough cloth of sheep's wool.

Merv was a notable centre from the production of crucible steel from the ninth century AD, when Islamic scholar, al-Kindi (AD 801-866) referred to the region of Khorasan as producing steel. This was made by a co-fusion process in which cast iron and wrought iron are melted together.^[10][11]

Climate[link]

Merv is dry and hot in summer and cold in winter. The heat of summer is oppressive. The wind raises clouds of fine dust which fill the air, rendering it opaque, almost obscuring the noonday sun. These clouds make breathing difficult. In winter the climate is pleasant. Snow falls rarely, and when it does, it melts at once. The annual rainfall rarely exceeds 5 in., and there is often no rain from June until October. While in summer temperatures can reach 45 °C (113 °F), in winter it they can be as low as −7 °C (19 °F). The average yearly temperature is 16 °C (61 °F).

Sister cities[link]

• Balkh, Afghanistan
• Nishapur, Iran
• Bukhara, Uzbekistan
• Samarkand, Uzbekistan

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Look up merv in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Merv

• British Museum Research Project
• Hazlitt's Classical Gazetteer
• Ancient Merv Project UCL
• Merv Digital Media Archive (creative commons-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), particularly focusing on Sultan Kala (Gala), with data from a University College London/CyArk research partnership
• Tahmuras, the mythical father and founder of Merv

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Sir Ian Botham

Sir Ian Botham signing books at Canary Wharf, 2009
Personal information
Full name	Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE
Born	(1955-11-24) 24 November 1955 (age 56) Heswall, Cheshire, England
Nickname	Beefy, Both, Guy[1]
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 474)	28 July 1977 v Australia
Last Test	18 June 1992 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 33)	26 August 1976 v West Indies
Last ODI	24 August 1992 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992–93	Durham
1987–91	Worcestershire
1987–88	Queensland
1974–86	Somerset
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	102	116	402	470
Runs scored	5200	2113	19399	10474
Batting average	33.54	23.21	33.97	29.50
100s/50s	14/22	0/9	38/97	7/46
Top score	208	79	228	175*
Balls bowled	21815	6271	63547	22899
Wickets	383	145	1172	612
Bowling average	28.40	28.54	27.22	24.94
5 wickets in innings	27	0	59	3
10 wickets in match	4	n/a	8	n/a
Best bowling	8/34	4/31	8/34	5/27
Catches/stumpings	120/–	36/–	354/–	196/–
Source: [1], 22 August 2007

Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE (born 24 November 1955) is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy".^[2] While a controversial player both on and off the field at times, Botham also held a number of Test cricket records, and still holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler.

He is generally regarded as being England's greatest ever all-rounder, particularly in Test cricket, although having earned celebrity status, his award of a knighthood was ostensibly in recognition of his services to charity.^[3]

Just like fellow cricketers Jim Cumbes and Arnold Sidebottom, Botham was also a talented footballer, and made 11 appearances in the Football League.

On 8 August 2009, Botham was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[4]

Early life[link]

Botham was born in Heswall on the Wirral, to Herbert Leslie Botham (who worked for Westland) and Violet Marie, née Collett (a nurse).^[5] Both his parents played cricket. He went to Milford Junior School in Yeovil, Somerset, where his "love affair" with sport began, and played for Somerset Under-15s.^[6] He left Bucklers Mead Comprehensive School at the age of 15 without completing his GCSEs, intent on playing cricket for Somerset, although he also had an offer to play football for Crystal Palace F.C.^[7] From an early age he was always single-minded. When informed that Botham wanted to be a sportsman, the Careers Mistress at his school said to him, "Fine, everyone wants to play sport, but what are you really going to do?" (interviewed BBC Radio 4's Fiona Glover, 20 November 2010, Saturday Live).

Domestic career[link]

In his non-first-class appearances for Somerset, his bowling figures did not stand out, but there were some sizeable scores, namely 91 for the Under-25s v Glamorgan Under-25s, 82 & 42 v Cornwall, 51 v Gloucester Under-25s, 50 v Glamorgan 2nd XI and in his last game (before his 1986 comeback match) 100 against Glamorgan 2nd XI.

In first-class cricket, he scored 19,399 runs at 33.97, took 1,172 wickets at 27.22 and held 354 catches. He played for Durham, Somerset and Worcestershire, as well as a season (1987–88) in Australia playing for Queensland.

Botham began his first-class career in 1974 with Somerset. In that year, when playing against Hampshire and facing the West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts, a bouncer hit him straight in the mouth. He spat out teeth and simply carried on.^[8] In 1986 he resigned from Somerset County Cricket Club, in protest against the sacking of his friends Sir Viv Richards and Joel Garner, and joined Worcestershire, playing for that county between 1987 and 1991. In 1992, he joined County Championship newcomers Durham before retiring midway through the 1993 season, his last match being Durham's match against the visiting Australian XI.

Grade Cricket in Australia 1976/1977[link]

Only months before announcing his presence on the international scene, Botham played Grade cricket for the University of Melbourne Cricket Club during the 1976/77 Australian Domestic Season. In a season where 5 of the 15 rounds were abandoned owing to adverse weather, Botham joined up for the second half as a result of a sponsorship arranged through the TCCB by Whitbread's Brewery.^[9] He was joined by Yorkshire's Graham Stevenson. Botham played 4 matches, the first of which was against Northcote in a one-day game on 8 January 1977. Brought on as first change, he finished with figures of 10.5-0-83-0 (8-ball overs). He batted at number 4 being run out for 0. The opposition wicket-keeper Richie Robinson would be an opponent in the Test arena only months later. His second match was against St Kilda, scheduled as a 2-day game over consecutive weeks. It became a one day game after the first Saturday was washed out. His analysis was 10–1–39–2. He scored a hard hit 41 in 33 minutes with five 4s. His third appearance was against Essendon CC in another 2-day game. He was the side's most successful bowler with analyses of 22.7–2–92–4 but fell for another 0 caught of leg-spinner Keith Kirby. His last match was against North Melbourne CC. He was promoted to opening the batting but was caught for 3 off Neil Majewski. His bowling analysis was 27–4–86–0 against a side that included Rohan Kanhai and Ian Chappell. Prior to this game, the match against Richmond was abandoned because of rain and the last game was also abandoned. His complete analysis was 44 runs in 4 matches at a batting average of 11, and 6 wickets at a bowling average of 51.16. Botham took one catch.

International career[link]

Botham made his Test début for England on 28 July 1977 in the Third Test against Australia, where he took five wickets for 74 runs in the first innings.^[10] He went on to enjoy a Test career spanning 15 years, in which he played in 102 matches.

Botham finished his Test career with 5,200 runs at an average of 33.54, taking 383 wickets at an average of 28.40, and holding 120 catches. He is generally regarded as one of England's greatest Test players.^[11] He was also England's captain for 12 Tests in 1980 and 1981. As captain of the England XI, Botham is generally considered to have been unsuccessful. His tenure was brief and under his captaincy the team achieved no wins, 8 draws and 4 losses. In his defence, 9 of his matches as captain were against the best team of that era, the West Indies, who won 12 out of the next 13 Tests played against England.

Compared with many of cricket's greatest players, most of whom were specialists, Botham's averages seem fairly ordinary but this overlooks Botham's all-rounder status, which is rarely achieved at world-class level. Of note, Botham's first 202 wickets came at 21.20 per wicket, while his final 181 cost on average 36.43 apiece;^[12] the first average is one that would make Botham one of the greatest bowlers of the modern era, ranking alongside the West Indian greats Curtly Ambrose (career average 20.99), Malcolm Marshall (career average 20.94), and Joel Garner (career average 20.97), but the second average depicts a player who, as a specialist bowler, would be unable to sustain a place in many Test teams. This difference can be largely attributed to a back injury which limited Botham's bowling pace and his ability to swing the ball.

Botham's Test career performance graph.

Botham's batting – although never the equal of his bowling abilities – declined as well, with a batting average of 38.80 for his first 51 Tests substantially higher than the 28.87 he managed in his last 51 Tests,^[13] again a number that would be considered unsatisfactory for a specialist batsman in most Test sides. In the first 5 years of Botham's Test career, when not playing as captain, he scored 2557 runs at an average of 49.17 including 11 centuries and a highest score of 208, took 196 wickets at an average of 21.28 including nineteen 5 wicket hauls and held 50 catches.^[14] Such figures denote a player who would easily maintain a place in any Test side as a specialist batsman or bowler alone. During this period his reputation as one of the leading Test all-rounders was firmly established.

He was renowned as a big-hitting batsman, though with a classical technique of playing straight, and as a fast-medium paced swing bowler who could be very effective when atmospheric conditions favoured his style.

Records[link]

Botham holds a number of Test records as an all-rounder, including being the fastest (in terms of matches) to achieve the "doubles" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, 2,000 runs and 200 wickets, and 3,000 runs and 300 wickets. He briefly held the world record for the greatest number of Test wickets, although his tally has subsequently been passed by several specialist bowlers. He still holds the record for the highest number of Test wickets taken by an England player (383).

Botham scored a century and took 5 wickets in an innings in the same Test match on 5 occasions; no-one else has managed this feat more than twice. In 1980, playing against India, he became the first player to score a century and take ten wickets in a Test match (Alan Davidson was the first to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in a Test but that did not include a century).

During the 1981 Ashes, Botham set a record of six sixes in a single Ashes Test Match at Old Trafford. That record remained unbroken until 7 August 2005 when Andrew Flintoff scored five in the first innings and four in the second innings of the second Test at Edgbaston, and again until 12 September 2005, when Kevin Pietersen hit seven sixes in the second innings of the last Test at The Oval.

One Day Internationals[link]

Botham's ODI career included 116 games from 1976 to 1992. He made his debut on 26 August against the West Indies at Scarborough. He finished with a batting average of 23.21 (nine 50s, no 100s, cumulative score of 2113 runs), and a bowling average of 28.5 (strike rate 43.24, 145 wickets in total, best figures 4/31).

[edit] 1981 Ashes Tour: Botham's Ashes

In 1980 Botham had been appointed captain of the England team. However, his captaincy proved to be an unhappy one; he lost form and the team did not do well.

Botham (second from left) with fellow commentators Willis and Gower, politicians Alistair Campbell and James Erskine.

He resigned the captaincy after a loss and a draw in the first two Tests of the 1981 Ashes series. The resignation itself was the cause of controversy, with Sir Alec Bedser, Chairman of the TCCB selectors, making it clear after media questioning that Botham would have been fired in any event.^[15] Botham himself refers to the event as his "dismissal" in his autobiography. In this Test, the Second Test played at Lord's and his last as England captain, Botham was dismissed for a pair. He returned to an embarrassed silence in the pavilion and after the previous year's events at the centenary Test, this possibly was the final straw. For the remainder of his cricket-playing career, Botham refused to acknowledge MCC members in the pavilion when playing at Lord's.^[16] However, Botham subsequently accepted the honour of Honorary Life membership of MCC and his portrait (depicting him enjoying a cigar) now hangs prominently in the Long Room Bar at Lord's.

Mike Brearley, the captain whom Botham had replaced, took up the reins again for the Third Test scheduled for 16 to 21 July, at Headingley. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. They batted all day Thursday and most of Friday, declaring after tea at 401 for 9, John Dyson having made 102 and Botham having taken 6 for 95. The England openers Graham Gooch and Geoff Boycott survived the remaining few overs, and England finished the day on 7 for no wicket.

The next day, Saturday, was a disaster for England: Gooch was out in the first over of the day, and although Boycott and Brearley then attempted to dig in, they were both out before lunch. None of the other batsmen got going at all with the exception of Botham who top scored with 50 — his first half century since his first Test as captain 13 matches earlier. England were all out in the third session for 174. Australia enforced the follow-on and piled on the pressure; Gooch was out for 0 on his third ball of the first over caught by Terry Alderman off the bowling of Dennis Lillee. By the close, England had struggled to just 6 for 1, still 221 behind Australia.

By all accounts, both teams' players thought Australia would win the match; indeed the England team had enjoyed a raucous barbecue chez Botham on the Saturday evening, such was their lack of faith in a positive result. Sunday 19 July was a rest-day and the newspapers roasted the lamentable England performance. Morale was not improved by Ladbrokes offering odds of 500–1 against England winning the match, as displayed on the Headingley electronic scoreboard! Controversially, the Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh and opening bowler Dennis Lillee both placed bets on England to win, later claiming that 500–1 were silly (if not incredible) odds on any two-horse race.

On the Monday morning 500–1 odds began to look somewhat more ungenerous as first Brearley, then David Gower and Mike Gatting all fell cheaply reducing England to 41 for 4. Boycott was still anchored at the other end however, and he and Peter Willey added 50 runs before lunch. In the afternoon, Willey was out for 33 and England were still in deep trouble at 105 for 5 when Botham went in to bat. Matters did not improve as first Geoff Boycott and then Bob Taylor were quickly dismissed. At 135 for 7 an innings defeat looked almost certain.

When Graham Dilley joined him at the crease, Botham reportedly said, "Right then, let's have a bit of fun...". With able support from Dilley (56) and Chris Old (29), Botham hit out and by the close of play was 145 not out with Bob Willis hanging on at the other end on 1 not out. England's lead was just 124 but there remained some glimmer of hope. On the final day's play there was time for just four more runs from Botham before Willis was out and Botham was left on 149 not out. Wisden rated this innings as the 4th best of all time.^[17]

Botham batting at Trent Bridge, 1983

Willis' far greater contribution was with the ball. After Botham took the first wicket, Willis skittled Australia out for just 111, finishing with figures of 8 for 43 – rated by Wisden as the 7th best bowling performance of all time.^[18] England had won by just 18 runs. It was only the second time in history that a team following-on had won a Test match.^[19]

The next Test match, at Edgbaston, looked almost as hopeless, if not hapless, from England's point of view. In a low scoring match (no-one made a score over 48), Australia needed 151 to win. At 105–5, things looked a little worrying for them, but an Australian win still seemed the most likely result. Botham then took 5 wickets for only 1 run in 28 balls to give England victory by 29 runs. Later, Brearley said that Botham had not wanted to bowl and had to be persuaded to do so.^[20]

The Old Trafford Test was less of a turnaround and more of a team effort than the previous two Tests, but Botham again was England's hero hitting yet another century in what Lillee claimed to be a better innings than his Headingley heroics. Botham had joined Chris Tavaré with the score at 104–5. Botham then scored 118 in a partnership of 149 before he was dismissed. He hit six sixes in this innings, three off Lillee's bowling, two of them in the same over. Remarkably, even though he seemed to take his eye off the ball while hooking some fearsome Lillee bouncers, his sheer power and strength carried the ball over the boundary rope. In total Botham batted for 5 hours shorter than Tavaré and yet scored 40 more runs. England won that match, then drew the last one at The Oval (Botham taking 6 wickets in the first innings), and thereby winning the series 3–1. Hardly surprisingly, Botham was named Man of the Series, scoring 399 runs and taking 34 wickets.

Football career[link]

A talented footballer as well as cricketer, Botham had to choose very early in his career whether to play professional football or cricket.^[21] At one point during his career, in an effort to get fit after an injury,^[22] in March 1980 he joined the football club Scunthorpe United, where he played as a centre half and made 11 appearances in the Football League.^[23] He also had a spell at Yeovil Town.^[23]

Controversy[link]

Botham often courted controversy and was suspended briefly in 1986 for smoking cannabis^[24] and was allegedly accused of racism and ball tampering by Imran Khan.^[25] This would become the subject of a court case later on, one that Imran Khan would go on to win. Botham was liable for all expenses in the court case in the ruling, even those incurred by Imran Khan.^[26] He also fell out publicly with other players, including fellow England opener Geoff Boycott, Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, and Australian batsman Ian Chappell, with whom he had an altercation in an Adelaide Oval car park during the 2010–11 Ashes series.^{[27][28][29][30][31]} His private life has also made occasional dramatic appearances in Britain's tabloid newspapers, with at least one extramarital affair prompting a public apology to his wife Kathy.^[32] Botham was also sacked from the Queensland team after being arrested for assault of a fellow airline passenger.^[33]

Charity walks[link]

Botham has been a prodigious fundraiser for charitable causes, undertaking a total of 12 long-distance charity walks. His first, in 1985, was a 900-mile trek from John o' Groats to Land's End. His efforts were inspired after a visit to Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital whilst receiving treatment for a broken toe; when he took a wrong turn into a children's ward, he was devastated to learn that some of the children had only weeks to live, and why.^[34] Since then, his efforts have raised more than £12 million for charity, with Leukaemia Research among the causes to benefit.^[35]

Honours[link]

• 2010 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Lincoln.
• 2008 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Sports Science by Leeds Metropolitan University.^[36]
• 2008 Botham was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bath.
• 2007 Botham was honoured as Knight Bachelor by HM Government in the Queen's Birthday Honours, again in recognition of his cricket achievements and his sustained efforts in raising money for Leukaemia research (see above).^[37] He was knighted by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace on 10 October 2007
• 2004 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 2003 First ever President of Leukaemia Research, the UK's leading blood cancer charity.
• 1992 Botham was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket and for his charity work in the Queen's Birthday Honours.^[38]
• 1988 Awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year
• 1981 Voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
• 1978 Elected one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year.

Test centuries and five-wicket innings[link]

Botham achieved the double of making a century and taking 5 wickets in an innings in the same Test match 5 times. Only three other players have achieved this feat more than once: Sir Gary Sobers, Mushtaq Mohammad and Jacques Kallis, who have each done it twice.^[39] He is the only man to have made a century and take 8 wickets in an innings in the same Test match, 108 and 8/34 against Pakistan at Lord's in 1978. Botham was also the first of only two men to make a century and take 10 wickets in the same Test match, the other being Imran Khan. Botham did this in the Centenary Test in Bombay in 1979–80 (114, 6/58 and 7/48), the last match before he became England captain. In the 25 Tests he played before he became captain he made 6 centuries and took 5 wickets in an innings 14 times, including 10 in a match 3 times, an astonishing record.

Ian Botham's 14 Test Centuries and 27 Test Five Wickets Hauls
No	100s	No	5 Wt	Test	Opponents	Season	Venue	City	Country	Result
		1	5/75	Third Test	Australia	1977	Trent Bridge	Nottingham	England	England won by 7 wickets
		2	5/21	Fourth Test	Australia	1977	Headingley Stadium	Leeds	England	England won by an innings and 85 runs
1	103	3	5/73	Second Test	New Zealand	1977–78	Lancaster Park	Christchurch	New Zealand	England won by 174 runs
		4	5/109	Third Test	New Zealand	1977–78	Eden Park	Auckland	New Zealand	Match Drawn
2	100			First Test	Pakistan	1978	Edgbaston Cricket Ground	Birmingham	England	England won by an innings and 57 runs
3	108	5	8/34	Second Test	Pakistan	1978	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	England won by an innings and 120 runs
		6	6/34	Second Test	New Zealand	1978	Trent Bridge	Nottingham	England	England won by and innings an 119 runs
		7 8	6/101 5/39	Third Test	New Zealand	1978	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	England won by 7 wickets
		9	5/70	First Test	India	1979	Edgbaston Cricket Ground	Birmingham	England	England won by an innings and 83 runs
		10	5/35	Second Test	India	1979	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	Match Drawn
4	137			Third Test	India	1979	Headingley Stadium	Leeds	England	Match Drawn
		11 12	6/78 5/98	First Test	Australia	1979–80	WACA Ground	Perth	Australia	Australia won by 138 runs
5	119*			Third Test	Australia	1979–80	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne	Australia	Australia won by 8 wickets
6	114	13 14	6/58 7/48	Centenary Test	India	1979–80	Wankhede Stadium	Bombay	India	England won by 10 wickets
7	149*	15	6/95	Third Test	Australia	1981	Headingley Stadium	Leeds	England	England won by 18 runs
		16	5/11	Fourth Test	Australia	1981	Edgbaston Cricket Ground	Birmingham	England	England won by 29 runs
8	118			Fifth Test	Australia	1981	Old Trafford Cricket Ground	Manchester	England	England won by 103 runs
		17	6/125 4/128	Sixth Test	Australia	1981	Kennington Oval	London	England	Match Drawn
		18	5/61	First Test	India	1981–82	Wankhede Stadium	Bombay	India	India won by 138 runs
9	142			Sixth Test	India	1981–82	Modi Stadium	Kanpur	India	Match Drawn
		19	5/46	First Test	India	1982	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	England won by 7 wickets
10	128			Second Test	India	1982	Old Trafford Cricket Ground	Manchester	England	Match Drawn
11	208			Third Test	India	1982	Kennington Oval	London	England	Match Drawn
		20	5/74	Third Test	Pakistan	1982	Headingley Stadium	Leeds	England	England won by 3 wickets
12	103			Fourth Test	New Zealand	1983	Trent Bridge	Nottingham	England	England won by 165 runs
13	138	21	5/59	First Test	New Zealand	1983–84	Basin Reserve	Wellington	New Zealand	Match Drawn
		22	8/103	Second Test	West Indies	1984	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	West Indies won by 9 wickets
		23	5/72	Fifth Test	West Indies	1984	Kennington Oval	London	England	West Indies won by 172 runs
		24	6/90	First Test	Sri Lanka	1984	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	Match Drawn
		25	5/109	Second Test	Australia	1985	Lord's Cricket Ground	London	England	Australia won by 4 wickets
		26	5/71	Fourth Test	West Indies	1985–86	Queen's Park Oval	Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago	West Indies won by 10 wickets
14	138			First Test	Australia	1986–87	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Brisbane	Australia	England won by 7 wickets
		27	5/41	Fourth Test	Australia	1986–87	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne	Australia	England won by an innings and 14 runs

Personal life[link]

In 1976, in the Borough of Doncaster, Botham married Kathryn Waller (Kathy, now Lady Botham) whom he first met in June 1974. After their marriage, they lived until the late 1980s in Epworth, near Scunthorpe. They have two daughters Becky (born November 1985) and Sarah, and a son Liam (born August 1977). Sarah works for Sky as a production assistant, and Liam was a professional cricketer and rugby player, before becoming a commentator for Sky Sports. Sir Ian and Kathy, their son and daughter-in-law (and their three children) all live in Ravensworth in North Yorkshire. Botham is an enthusiastic football fan and supports Sunderland,^[40] Chelsea and Rangers. Botham is also a supporter of the Conservative Party.^[41]

Botham is colourblind.^[42]

Publications[link]

• Botham, Ian (September 1994). My Autobiography: Don't Tell Kath.... 
• Botham, Ian (October 2007). Head On – Ian Botham: The Autobiography. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-192148-4. 
• Former cricketer Ian Botham talks to Sir David Frost about his new autobiography "Head on".

See also[link]

• List of England Test cricket records

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Doust, Dudley (1981). Ian Botham. St Albans, Hertfordshire: Granada. ISBN 0-583-13452-1. 

External links[link]

• Debrett's People of Today
• Ian Botham photos, biography & statistics at sporting-heroes.net
• Player profile: Ian Botham from ESPNcricinfo
• All Rounders at Cricket Archive
• Ian Botham at Cricket Archive
• Ian Botham at the Internet Movie Database