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'Geok-Tepe' (or 'Geok Depe') is a former fortress of the Turkmens, in Turkmenistan, in the oasis of Akhal-tekke, on the Transcaspian railway, 28 miles north-west of Ashkhabad.
In December 1880 Geok Tepe was attacked by 6,000 Russians under General Mikhail Skobelev, and after the siege of Geok-Tepe lasting twenty-three days the city was taken by storm, although the defenders numbered 25,000. Although they encountered heavy resistance, Russian forces were eventually able to break in by digging a tunnel underneath a portion of the wall, then detonating a mine underneath the wall. On January 24, 1881, the mine was detonated. Once the fortress was breached, the Russian troops stormed in. Several hundred defenders were killed in the initial explosion, and many more were killed in the fighting that ensued. Eventually, the defenders, along with the 40,000 civilians inside the fortress, fled across the desert, pursued by General Skobelev's cavalry. Around 8,000 Turkmen soldiers and civilians were killed in their flight, along with an additional 6,500 that were killed inside the fortress. An Armenian interpretor with the Russian force later said

I myself saw babies bayoneted or slashed to pieces. Many women were ravished before being killed.

General Skobelev, in justification of his men raping and plundering while drunk, said

"I hold it as a principle that the duration of peace is in direct proportion of the slaughter you inflict upon the enemy. The harder you hit them, the longer they remain quiet."

Russian casualties were only 398 killed and 669 wounded.

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★ Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game