Sandykgaçy

36°32′46″N 62°33′27″E / 36.54611°N 62.55750°E / 36.54611; 62.55750

Sandykgaçy,^[1] briefly known as Miweli, is a village in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, Turkmenistan. It is located on the Murgap River, circa 70 km northwest of Tagtabazar. In 2022, it had a population of 4,488 people.^[2]

The Turkmen word sandykgaçy means "box". Atanyyazow explains that in antiquity the name appeared as "Sandykgachan", meaning "boxed (in)", because of the high, steep slopes that enclose the village.^[3]

The village was briefly known as "Miweli," which is composed of "Miwe," which translates to "Fruit," and the suffix "-li," which is used to form adjectives. The whole word may be translated as "Fruity" or as "[a place] with fruits." On 10 May 2010, the name was reversed to Sandykgaçy.^[4]

The Panjdeh Incident was an armed engagement between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between the Russian and the British Empires regarding the Russian expansion south-eastwards towards the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj (India). It happened near Sandykgaçy.

During the Soviet era, Sandykgaçy was the center of a fruit and vegetable sovkhoz.^[3] The sovkhoz then became a rural council in post-soviet Turkmenistan.

The village is served by both the A-388 highway between Serhetabat and Ýolöten and a station on the rail line to Serhetabat.^[5]

Sandykgaçy is the seat of a rural council including three villages:

• Sandykgaçy, village
• 27-nji oktýabr, village
• Bagçylyk, village