Caravan (travellers)

Edwin Lord Weeks, Arrival of a Caravan Outside the City of Morocco
A trade caravan passing the Isle of Graia in the Gulf of Akabah, Arabia Petraea, 1839 lithograph by Louis Haghe from an original by David Roberts
Camel caravan in Somalia

A caravan (from Persian: کاروان‎) is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defense against bandits as well as helping to improve economies of scale in trade.

In historical times, caravans connecting East Asia and Europe often carried luxurious and lucrative goods, such as silks or jewelry. Caravans could therefore require considerable investment and were a lucrative target for bandits. The profits from a successfully undertaken journey could be enormous, comparable to the later European spice trade. The luxurious goods brought by caravans attracted many rulers along important trade routes to construct caravanserais, places where caravans could refresh their animals and supplies can be replenished. However, the volume a caravan could transport was limited even by Classical or Medieval standards. For example, a caravan of 500 camels could only transport as much as a third or half of the goods carried by a regular Byzantine merchant sailing ship.

Present-day caravans in less-developed areas of the world often still transport important goods through badly passable areas, such as seeds required for agriculture in arid regions. An example are the camel trains traversing the southern edges of the Sahara Desert.

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See also

References

    Further reading

    Antiquity and Middle Ages
    17th century
    20th century
    Contemporary caravans