[3] It has also been postulated the region existed as part of a major Iranian state centred in Chorasmia that controlled Aria, Sogdia, Parthia and Margiana.

[7] The revolt in Margiana, led by a certain Frâda (Phraates),[8] was suppressed almost immediately, in December 521 BC by Dadarsi, the Satrap of Bactria.

[12] In July 329 BC, as Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Eschate on the northern border of Sogdia, Spitamenes led a revolt and besieged the Sogdian capital of Maracanda.

[13] Alexander's general Coenus defeated Spitamenes in the Battle of Gabai in December 328 BC, and subsequently in the following year Sogdia was merged with Bactria to form a single satrapy under the rule of Philip.

Disagreements between the generals led to another meeting and in the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Philip was replaced as satrap of Bactria and Sogdia by Stasanor.

[17] The invasion demonstrated that Seleucus II Callinicus was unable to respond to threats in the East and therefore Diodotus, who had begun pushing for his independence in c. 245 BC, abandoned hopes of remaining part of the Seleucid Empire and declared himself king, thus establishing what is now known as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

[20] In 53 BC, 10,000 Roman prisoners captured by the Parthians after the Battle of Carrhae in Upper Mesopotamia were settled in Antiochia in Margiana.

[22] At the onset of the 3rd century AD, Margiana had been restored as a vassal of the Parthian Empire, but continued to exist as a "virtually independent state".

[24] The vassal kingdom was permitted to continue minting its own coinage until it was formally annexed by Shapur I in c. 260 AD who granted control of Margiana to his son, Narseh, as part of the province of Hind, Sagistan and Turan.

[25] In the fifth century, during the reign of the Sasanian king Bahram V, Margiana and the northern territories were invaded and plundered by the Hephthalites, also known as the White Huns.

[26] Bahram, after initially sending an offer of peace, led a surprise attack on the Hepthalites and massacred them whilst they camped and then pursued them as they attempted to flee back to their own territory.

Mahoe agreed to pay tribute to the Rashidun general Ahnaf ibn Qais who began to consolidate Islam in Margiana and awaited reinforcements.

[30] Margiana's position along the Silk Road led to the development of a diverse religious demography in the period prior to the Islamic Conquest.