Margiana

Margiana was a province within the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian empires. It was located in the valley of the Murghab River which has its sources in the mountains of Afghanistan, and then reaches the oasis of Merv in modern Turkmenistan. It is considered part of a Bronze Age civilisation, the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation. Historians currently disagree as to the exact history of Margiana prior to the Achaemenid conquest. Some historians have argued that a kingdom was established and an urban society had begun to develop surrounding the Oasis. Other historians have noted that whilst advanced irrigation had begun in the 7th century BC, the existence of such a state is unlikely. Margiana was conquered by the Persian king Cyrus the Great between 545 and 539 BC. In the Aramaic version of the Behistun Inscription, it is claimed that 55,423 Margians were killed and 6,972 taken captive in the aftermath of the revolt. It has been also suggested that Margiana. was part of the satrapy of Bactrian under the Median Empire.