The Battle of Dandanaqan (Persian: نبرد دندانقان) was fought in 1040 between the Seljuq Turkmens and the Ghaznavid Empire near the city of Merv (now in Turkmenistan).

[5][6] The battle ended with a decisive Seljuq victory, which subsequently brought down the Ghaznavid domination in Greater Khorasan.

[7] His murder in 1035, forced them to flee through the Kara Kum Desert towards Merv, but they switched instead to Nasa on the edges of Khurasan.

Swift and mobile Turkmens were better fit to fight battles in the steppes and deserts than was the conservative heavily-laden army of Ghaznavid Turks.

Seljuq Turkmens also destroyed the Ghaznavids' supply lines and so cut them off the nearby water wells.