Alamberdar

Alamberdar mausoleum - the tomb of Muntasir is located 12 km from Atamyrat (Kerki). The locals call it the tomb of Alamberdar or Alamdar tugchi - the "flag bearer". According to legend, he was the military commander of Caliph Ali.

Historical sources testify that in the middle Ages, Zemm district, in the years 1004-1005, the ruler of Samanids, Abu Ibrahim Ismail Muntasir, was killed and buried here. Alamberdar Mausoleum is one of the best examples of 11th century architecture in Turkmenistan. The large house, which is square (10.35 meters) in plan, has a dome-covered room over the back sails. The square (27 × 27 × 4.5 cm) is decorated with baked bricks and figured bricks of particular interest is the facial cleansing done with braids. The corners are fastened with eight-sided columns. The entrance is decorated with a more intricate portal, and its sides are embroidered with embroidered plaques.

The mausoleum has a domed roof, one-room, square, thick walls, wavy bricks are laid on the base of the dome. The main style is divided into three parts. The deep arched roof in the middle and the flat arches on both sides are made of bricks.

According to the legend, the servants of Alamberdar were exhausted from thirst in the desert. Alamberdar set out in search of the well and asked his soldiers to set fire at night so that he would not get lost. Finding the water, Alamberdar mistakenly went to the fire of the enemies and was killed by them. But historical resources says that Ismail Muntasir was the youngest son of Nuh II—he was imprisoned by the Karakhanids after their conquest of Bukhara in 999. Sometime later, Ismail managed to escape to Khwarazm, where he gained support. Driving the Karakhanids out of Bukhara, he then moved on to and captured Samarkand. The approach of the Karakhanid army, however, forced Ismail to give up all of his possessions, following which he travelled to Khorasan, where he captured Nishapur. Mahmud's army, however, made its way to the region, and Isma'il decided it necessary to flee again.

In 1003 Ismail came back to Transoxiana, where he requested and received assistance from the Oghuz Turks of the Zarafshan valley. They defeated the Karakhanids in several battles but he could not rely on the Oghuzs to restore him, so he went back to Khorasan. He tried to gain Mahmud's support for a campaign to restore the Samanid state, but failed. Sometime afterwards, he returned to the Zarafshan valley, where he gained the support of the Oghuzs and others but subsequently the Oghuzs deserted Ismail during another battle, and his army fell apart.

Ismail attempted to reenter Transoxiana in the end of 1004. The Karakhanids stopped this and Ismail was nearly killed. Then, he hoped the hospitality of an Arab tribe near Merv. Their chief, however, killed Ismail in 1005. His death dashed hopes of re-establishing the Samani state.