Battle of Geok Tepe (1879)

Battle of Geok Tepe (1879)
	Part of Russian conquest of Central Asia
	; Battle of Geok Tepe 1879
Date	9 September 1879
Location	Geok Tepe, Turkmenistan
Result	Turkmen victory Russian invasion of Turkmenistan repelled;
Belligerents
Akhal Teke Turkmens	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Berdi Murad Khan † ; Kara Bateer †	Nikolai Lomakin
Strength
About half the population of the tribe sheltered in the fortress; about 20,000 people	3,800 troops
Casualties and losses
2,000+ killed ; 2,000+ wounded	~200 killed ; 250+ wounded

The First Battle of Geok Tepe was the main event in the 1879 Russian expedition against the Akhal Tekke Turkmens during the Russian conquest of Turkestan. Nikolai Lomakin marched 442 km to the Geok Tepe fortress, but mismanaged the attack and was forced to retreat. The next year, this was reversed by Mikhail Skobelev in the second Battle of Geok Tepe.

Ashgabat

Krasno
vodsk

Chik
ishlyar

Merv

Pandjeh

Geok Tepe

Bami

Kazil-
Arvat

Chat

Bukhara

Khiva

Turkmen campaign of 1879
Blue = Russian fort.
(Khoja Kale is the mark south of Kazil Arvat.)
The Kopet Dagh Mountains run from Ashkabad northwest toward Krasnovodsk.