The tomb of Sultan Sanjar stands in the ancient capital of Merv which, prior to the Mongol conquests of 1221, ranked among the medieval world’s finest cities. The tomb honors Ahmad Sanjar (1085-1157), the Seljuk ruler of Khorasan from 1097-1118 and Sultan of the empire from 1118-1157.
Ahmad or Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah was the son of Malik-Shah I (1054 or 55-1092), the Seljuk Sultan from 1072-92. When Ahmad was six years old his father died suddenly while hunting. With the empire decapitated, the Seljuk realm quickly devolved into anarchy with rival warlords and claimants to the throne grasping for what power they could take by the sword. Despite his youth, Ahmad was sent to Khorasan to govern from Merv, then a flourishing city. By 1102 he won the first of a string of battles that would cement his reputation as a competent and resourceful ruler. First, he proved capable of repelling a Kharakhanid invasion from central Asia and captured and killed its sovereign, Qadir-khan Jibrai’il, near the modern city of Termez. In 1117 he took Ghazni (in modern Afghanistan) and deposed the Ghaznavid Arslan-shah, installing a different ruler in his stead. Finally, he joined an alliance of rulers and marched against his brother, Mahmud, who had emerged victorious as the ruler of the central Seljuk lands. Ahmad decisively defeated Mahmud and took the title Sultan which he was to retain for the remainder of his life.
As Sultan Sanjar, Ahmad likely began planning and constructing his tomb in the early 1140s when he was at the height of his power. By 1141 he began to suffer serious setbacks, the first a devastating loss at the Battle of Qatwan, near Samarkand, where he barely escaped with his life. The Battle of Qatwan is probably the first serious encounter between a Sino-sphere army and a Middle Eastern one in history with real political consequences (the only other relatively large battle that of Talas in 751, was just a skirmish with no geo-political shifts and nowhere near as influential as Qatwan). The force was fought between Sultan Sanjar of the Seljuks and Yelu Dashi of the Liao. It established the pre-eminence of the Liao in Central Asia for many decades with the Seljuk losing all territory east of the Jaxartes and the eventual disintegration of the unified Seljuk Empire.
The Chronicles of Ibn al-Athir, is one of the outstanding sources for the history of the mediaeval world written in the late 12th century stated that Yelu Dashi had 300,000 cavalry while Sultan Sanjar only had 100,000.
This spurred a revolt by Atsiz, the Shah of Khwarezm (r. 1127-56), who quickly seized Nishapur and Merv. Sanjar managed to drive Atsiz from the heart of his empire but the two episodes proved that enemies lurked within and without. Finally, in 1153 a tribe of Oghuz Turks rebelled near Balkh and took Sanjar and his queen prisoner. The rebels plundered Nishapur and Merv in short order, bringing a disastrous end to the grand empire that Sanjar had worked so long to maintain. Sanjar lingered another four years, freeing himself from captivity in 1156, only to die the following year with his legacy in shambles.
Sanjar’s tomb measures 27 x 27 meters in plan and comprises a cube-shaped sanctuary surmounted by a 38 meter high dome. This conservative design is enlivened by the treatment of the facade which includes an arcaded gallery along the cornice, a feature similar to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum in Bukhara from several centuries prior. The dome’s zone of transition features two additional arcaded bands that embellish the monument with depth and shade. The surface of the dome was originally covered in blue tiles but is now bare.
The monument’s foundations are 4.2 meters deep with walls built so strongly that Mongol invaders were unable to destroy the tomb even after setting it ablaze. The ruined hulk proved durable, becoming a place of pilgrimage for neighboring Turkmen tribes, who may have used it as a guidepost when passing through the desert. Recently, the monument was sensitively restored with Turkish assistance. One important detail that survives is the identity of the architect, Muhammad ibn Atsiz al-Sarakhsi, whose name is preserved in a medallion below the dome.
