A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English (Persian: كاروانسرا kārvānsarā or کاروانسرای kārvānsarāi, Turkish: kervansaray) was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe, especially along the Silk Road.
These were found frequently along the Persian Empire's Royal Road, a 2500 km long ancient highway that stretched from Sardis to Susa according to Herodotus:[1]: "Now the true account of the road in question is the following:- Royal stations exist along its whole length, and excellent caravansaries; and throughout, it traverses an inhabited tract, and is free from danger."
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Most typically a caravanserai was a building with a square or rectangular walled exterior, with a single portal wide enough to permit large or heavily laden beasts such as camels to enter. The courtyard was almost always open to the sky, and the inside walls of the enclosure were outfitted with a number of identical stalls, bays, niches, or chambers to accommodate merchants and their servants, animals, and merchandise.[2]
Caravanserais provided water for human and animal consumption, washing, and ritual ablutions. Sometimes they had elaborate baths. They also kept fodder for animals and had shops for travelers where they could acquire new supplies. In addition, some shops bought goods from the traveling merchants.[3]
The word is also rendered as caravansara or caravansary. The Persian word kārvānsarā is a compound word combining ''kārvān (caravan) with sara (palace, building with enclosed courts), to which the Persian suffix -yi is added. Here "caravan" means a group of traders, pilgrims, or other travelers, engaged in long distance travel.
The caravanserai was also known as a khan (Persian خان), han in Turkish, فندق funduq in Arabic (from the Greek, pandocheion, an inn), and fundaco in Venice.
The term is used in lyrics of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance.[4]
Santana released an album named Caravanserai on the Columbia label.
Loreena McKennitt's album An Ancient Muse features a track titled Caravanserai.
Kitaro has a song called "Caravansary" (Listen):[5] on his album Silk Road IV: Tenjiku/India (1983).[6] It also appears on the albums Daylight, Moonlight: Live in Yakushiji (2002)[7] and Best of Silk Road (2003).[8]
Caravanserai By Talib Al-Habib Songs of the Wayfarer
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