CARAVAN (from the Persiiin Icarran, i.e., trader), the name given to the great assem blages of travelers which, at stated times, traverse the deserts of Asia and Africa. Many caravans are entirely for the purposes of trade, the merchants associating them selves for mutual help and protection. A C. sometimes has so many as 1000 camels, which follow each other in single file, so that it may be a mile or more in length. The most celebrated caravans are those formed by pilgrims going to Mecca, particularly those which annually assemble at Cairo and at Damascus. The latter consist of 30,000• to 50,000 pilgrims, and is under the special protection of the Turkish sultan. The car avan by which the Persians travel to Mecca starts from Bagdad, and is the vehicle of a very important trade. The great Indian C. to Mecca, which started from Muscat, has been long given up. Mecca, upon the arrival of the caravans, bringing goods from so many different parts of the world, presents all the appearance of a vast fair. The
trade between Tripoli and the interior of Africa is exclusively carried on by caravans, likewise that between Darfur and Egypt. The great trade between Russia and China is also a C. trade. In the east, caravans in which the camels have a load of 500 to 600 lbs. are called heavy caravans; light caravans are those in which the camels have only half that weight, so that the daily journeys may be longer. Heavy caravans travel from 17 to 18 m. a day; light, from 22 to 25. The caravans are generally conducted with great regularity, and assemble at and start from stated places ou stated days. The leader of the Mecca caravans is called emir-el-hadsch, i.e., prince of the pilgrims. In trade-caravans, a leader, who is called kanvan-baschi, is elected by the merchants from their own number.
Among the knights of Malta, caravans meant the troops of knights appointed by the order to serve in garrisons, and also the cruises of their galleys against the Turks.