Editing Ahal Region (section)

==History==
From antiquity through the early 1800s, the area was populated by Persian-speaking peoples. [[Nisa, Turkmenistan|Nisa]], since 2013 located within the city limits of [[Ashgabat]], was likely founded in the third century BCE and was the first capital of the [[Parthian Empire]]. The area just north of the [[Kopet Dag]] mountains forms an oasis due to runoff from the mountains and was thus part of the [[Silk Road]] caravan route from roughly 2000 BCE until around 1500 CE.

===Turkmen period=== 
British Lieutenant Colonel H.C. Stuart reported in 1881 that the Ahal branch of the [[Teke (Turkmen tribe)|Teke tribe]] of the [[Turkmens|Turkmen]] ethnic group arrived in the area around 1830 and established several semi-nomadic villages (''auls'') between what is now the city of [[Gyzylarbat]] and village of Gäwers, inclusive.<ref name=stuart>{{cite book|title=The Country of the Turkomans|date=1977|publisher=Oguz Press and the Royal Geographical Society|place=London|isbn=0-905820-01-0}}, Chapter 11, Stuart, Lt. Col. H.C., ''The Country of the Tekke Turkomans, and the Tejend and Murghab Rivers'', lecture delivered in 1881.</ref> The Ahal area was formally part of [[Persia]] but ''de facto'' autonomous under Turkoman tribal control until Russian forces defeated the Teke army at the [[Battle of Geok Tepe]] in January 1881.

===Soviet period===
Originally named ''Ashgabat oblasty'' in Turkmen ({{langx|ru|Ашхабадская область}}, [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] Turkmen {{Lang|tk-Cyrl|Ашгабат областы}}), the future Ahal Province was initially formed on 21 November 1939, abolished on 25 May 1959, and reconstituted on 27 December 1973.<ref name=encyclopedia>{{cite book|title=Туркменская Советская Социалистическая Республика: Энциклопедический справочник|date=1984|publisher=Издательство Чувашского обкома КПСС|place=Ashkhabad|language = ru|page=478}}</ref> In 1977 ''Ashgabat oblasty'' was awarded the [[Order of Lenin]].<ref name=encyclopedia />

===Independent Turkmenistan===
On 14 December 1992, the [[People's Council of Turkmenistan|People's Council]] ({{langx|tk|Maslahaty|link=no}}) adopted Law No. 783-ХП, "On the Order of Deciding Issues of Administrative-Territorial Structure of Turkmenistan", and Resolution XM-6.<ref name=HM6>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:19921214_XM-6.pdf|title=Türkmenistanyň Halk Maslahatynyň Çözgüdi HM-6 Türkmenistanda administratiw-territorial düzümleriň statusyny bellemek hakynda|date=14 December 1992|language=Turkmen|publisher=Parliament of Turkmenistan}}</ref> These statutes changed the Russian word oblast' (область), rendered in Turkmen Cyrillic as област, to the [[Persian language|Persian]] loan word ''welaýat'' in reference to provinces.  The resolution renamed Ashgabat oblasty ({{langx|ru|Ашгабатская область}}, Turkmen Сyrillic: Ашгабат областы) to Ahal welaýaty.<ref name=osm>{{cite web|url= https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Turkmenistan_Geoname_Changes#Central_Government_Sole_Authority_for_Geographic_Names|title=Turkmenistan Geoname Changes / Central Government Sole Authority for Geographic Names|access-date=8 April 2021|publisher=OpenStreetMap}}</ref> [[Anau, Turkmenistan|Anau]] was designated the capital of Ahal. The capital was moved to the new city of [[Arkadag]] on 20 December 2022.<ref name=decree20221220 />