8- Caravanserais: The Hostels of the Great Trading Routes: (Click on images to enlarge)

The Islamic heartlands showing the main trade and hajj routes

Caravanserai or Khan (Turkish Han):

Initially the term designated the travelers' inn on the road. By the fifteenth century it started to replace all the other terms to mean at the same time the urban inn, the guarded storehouse, and the trading installation for wholesale, retail, and export.

An interior view of life in an Ottoman caravanserai

 

Major Influences on Trade Architecture in the Islamic World:

• Technological: The Replacement of wheeled transportation by camel caravans after the development of camel’s harness and camel’s double-load.
• Historical: The milieu in which Islam grew was mercantile, and the Prophet himself, along with most of his companions, was a merchant from Mecca.
• Liturgical: Every Muslim is required to perform the Hajj, pilgrimage, at least once in his/her lifetime, if they can. Besides, the development of a science of hadith, prophetic sayings and deeds, necessitated the travel of many scholars in search of authentic traditions. Later, seeking knowledge in famous madrasas, or traveling to learn from a famous shaykh, saw many travelers on the road.

The Requirements:

• Rest houses at one-day intervals for the caravans: The Caravanserai
• Water cisterns and wells for the caravans.
• Road markers and watch towers.
• Bridges over rivers and ravines.

 

Examples:

The Small Enclosure at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi (ca. 727): Ushers the transformation of the Roman castrum type into a caravanserai.

Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi: plan of the small enclosure

The Ribat at Soussa, Tunisia (completed 821): Blurs the differences between the architecture of the frontiers and that of travel.

Ribat at Soussa; plan

Ribat at Soussa: Interior courtyard

Bridges:

Al-Abassi Bridge, Zako, Iraq, Seljuk (11th c.)

Al-Abassi Bridge

Pahlavi Dej Bridge, Iran, Seljuk (11th c.)

Pahlavi Dej Bridge

Medieval Watch Towers:

The Minaret of Jam, Afghanistan: Built by Ghiyath al-Din Ghuri (1163-1203)

Minaret of Jam, Afghanistan

Seljuk Khans in Eastern Anatolia:

Sultan Khan in Aksaray (1229) built by Ala’ al-Din Kaykubad

Aksaray: Caravanserai plan

Raised mosque in courtyard

Portal with muqarnas conch

Sultan Khan in Kayseri (1232-36) built by Ala’ al-Din Kaykubad

Perspectival reconstruction

Portal with muqarnas conch

Courtyard with raised mosque

Seljuk Khans in Iran:

Ribat-i Sharaf (1114-15) on the Nishapur-Merv Road, Iran

Ribat-i Sharaf: plan

Urban Khans:

Khan Murjan, Baghdad (14th Century)

Khan Murjan: plan

Khan Murjan: Axonometric drawing