However, a few years later, Shah 'Abbas the Great's campaigns against the Uzbeks resulted in a Safavid governor (Biktash Khan Ustajlu) being appointed to Merv in 1600.
From 1715, the Qajar chieftain Mohammad 'Ali Beg expelled three consecutive governors of Merv, assuming complete sovereignty after the fall of Isfahan in 1722.
In 1723–24, coinciding with detrimental conditions in the oasis, Nader Shah Afshar began to intervene in the politics of Merv on behalf of the Qajar rulers.
[3][2][1] The beglerbegi 'Ali Naqi Khan Qajar briefly occupied Mashhad in 1751, intervening in the affairs of Khorasan (which had by this time dissolved into anarchy as Shahrokh Shah was unable to assert his authority over the local tribal chiefs).
[2] The isolation of Merv and the fertile agricultural resources of the oasis allowed the Qajar chieftains to assert their independence, especially considering the turmoil its neighbors (Iran, Khiva, and Bukhara) were going through at the time.
[3][2] They had a paternal friendship, and Daniyal Biy would address Bayram 'Ali Khan Qajar as his son (Persian: فرزند, romanized: farzand).
[5][2] After the withdraw of Bukharan forces, the people of Merv brought Bayram 'Ali Khan's son, Hajji Mohammad Husayn, back from Mashhad to become the next ruler.