Seljuk
A Seljuk Caravanserai
A waystation of the overland trade, c. 1250 CE
c. 648 AH / 1250 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
A Seljuk han on the Anatolian plateau (representative)
38.2500, 33.5500 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
Across the high plateau of Anatolia the Seljuk sultans of Rum, who ruled much of Asia Minor in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, built a remarkable network of caravanserais, in Turkish the han, great fortified inns of dressed stone set roughly a day's march apart along their trade roads. They were a deliberate investment of the state in the commerce that crossed its land, the overland trade that carried silk, spices, cloth and other goods between Persia and the east and the ports of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. A great han was a monumental building: a tall carved portal led through to a vaulted covered hall, while the open court was ringed by arcaded ranges on stone piers that served as lodging for travellers and stabling for their animals, with a basin or well to water the beasts; the largest, the so-called sultan hans, even raised a small mosque on piers in the middle of the court. The hans were maintained from pious endowments (waqf) and offered, by report, food, shelter, medicine and a measure of free hospitality to all who came, Muslim and non-Muslim, rich and poor alike. The traveller Ibn Battuta, crossing Anatolia in the 1330s, repeatedly praised the hospitality he met on these roads, where lodges fed and housed wayfarers without charge. The hans secured the routes, enriched the realm, and stand today among the finest monuments of the Anatolian Seljuks, the Sultan Han near Aksaray, the Aghzikara Han, the Karatay Han and others among them. This scene depicts a representative han with a caravan halted to rest by day: the massive stone inn ringed by snow-streaked mountains, the great carved portal at the far side and the arcaded court along both ranges, laden camels gathered near the gateway, a stone watering basin in the centre of the paving, and merchants seated on carpets unpacking bales, sacks, barrels and jars in the daily business of a trading halt. It is representative of the Seljuk hans rather than a single named building. In keeping with the project's ethics any figures are anonymous and at a distance.
What you see
A massive fortified inn of dressed honey-coloured stone, its court enclosed by crenellated walls and corner buttresses. A monumental carved portal rises at the far side, a tall pointed recess set into a projecting frame, leading through to the vaulted covered hall behind; this great gateway is the hallmark of the Anatolian Seljuk han.
Arcaded ranges run down both long sides of the court on heavy stone piers, the open bays serving as lodging for travellers and stabling for their animals, a plan repeated in han after han across the plateau.
A round stone basin and a wooden trough stand at the centre of the court where the caravan waters its animals. Beside it laden camels are gathered near the portal, still carrying their packs, a caravan halted to rest within the walls.
Merchants sit on carpets spread over the paving and unpack their loads, bales of cloth, sacks, barrels, baskets and glazed jars stacked in the arcades and along the right-hand range; the daily business of a halt on a long trading road.
This is a han, a caravanserai of the kind the Seljuk sultans of Rum built about a day's march apart along their roads, giving merchants and travellers free lodging, safety and stabling, a state's investment in the commerce that crossed its land.
Snow-streaked mountains close the horizon beyond the walls and the sky is overcast; this is the high, bare plateau of inner Anatolia, on the routes that linked Persia and the east with the ports of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
The Anatolian Seljuk hans are described by travellers, among them Ibn Battuta, who praised the free hospitality of the lodges he found on these roads, and they survive as standing monuments. The scene depicts a representative han and a caravan resting by day.
Further reading & cross-references
Ibn Battuta, Rihla (account of his travels, mid-fourteenth century): Cited for the free hospitality of the lodges and hans of Anatolia, which Ibn Battuta repeatedly praised; he crossed in the 1330s, a generation after the depicted date, but describes the same living institution.
Histories of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and the Anatolian trade: Used for the state's investment in commerce, the waqf endowment of the hans, and the overland routes linking Persia with the Mediterranean and Black Sea ports.
Architectural studies of the standing Seljuk hans (the sultan hans and lesser hans): Used for the carved portal, the arcaded courtyard on piers, the covered hall, the court-mosque of the largest hans, and the watering basin; constrains the depiction.
The surviving Anatolian hans (extant, material): Sultan Han, Aghzikara Han, Karatay Han: The standing monuments constrain the depiction; the scene is representative rather than a single named han.
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