User:Jengod/Gurganj Dam

The Gurganj Dam, on the Amu Darya river, near what is now called Konye-Urgench ("Old Gurganj") in northern Turkmenistan, was a huge dam that stood from about 985 A.D. to April 1221 A.D., when it was destroyed by the Mongols. While it stood, the wooden dam was located about a ghalwa upstream from the town, and it diverted the flow of the previously forked river entirely to the Aral Sea. Our knowledge of the dam comes from both al-Biruni and Yakut. The dam had gates that controlled the flow of water. The dam was just one part of the city's waterworks, which included irrigation canals watering expansive agricultural fields. Destroying the dam washed away the city and any surviving residents, which contributed to the overall death toll from the conquest period of the Mongol Empire.