CARAVAN SERA, or C.e I( A V NSElt v, the name given in the East to the large inns or public buildings. for accommodating the merchants, pilgrims, and tra%el lers, that accompany the caravans.
The earavenseras have genet ally been confounded with the khans ; but the former, particularly about the time of their origin, were erected under the impulse of re ligious duty, in desert places, at a distance from large towns, to afford shelter and accommodation to travellers and caravans ; while the khans, which were generally built in towns, were used by foreign merchants, not only as a lodging-house, but as a magazine for their goods. The word caravansera, however, is the general name adopted in Asia for all these kinds of buildings. It is used not only in Turkey, but also in Persia and the Mo gul country, while the word khan is more particularly used in Turkey.
But while the charity and hospitality of the Eastern princes have thus provided accommodation to travellers in those desert regions, where it is most required, they have limited their generosity to a mere shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and to a supply of water, which is often brought from a great distance. Neither beds, kitchen, nor provisions, are attached to these buildings ; and the traveller must either carry along with him every thing that he wants, or purchase them after his arrival. The caravanseras, as well as the khans, arc generally huge square buildings, being one or two stories high above the ground-floor. The interior fa çades, which form the spacious court or hall in the mid dle, resemble the cloisters of convents. The maga zines are in the ground-floors, while the chambers for travellers are in the upper stories. A reservoir of wa ter, in which the camels and other beasts of burden quench their thirst, is placed in the middle of the court.
In the city of Pas, in Marocco, there are no fewer than two hundred caravanseras, called Fondaque. These edi fices arc three stories high, and contain from 50 to 100 apartments, in each of which a supply of water, for ab lution and other purposes, is conveyed by means of a water-cock. The traveller must carry bedding along with him, as they are provided only with a mat ; and if he wants any refreshments, he must order them from a cook's shop. or buy them from a butcher, and dress them himself. A certain sum per day is paid for the use of the apartment.
The caravanseras of Constantinople, Ispahan. and Agra, are celebrated for their magnificence and accom modation. Those of Sheeraz and Casbin are said to have cost 60,000 crowns each ; and that of Vrana or Urana, in Dalmatia, which is now in ruins, had a facade 150 feet long. It was built entirely of fine marble, with a com pact graM, and susceptible of the finest polish ; and the Abbe Fortis supposed that those blocks of marble had been taken from somo Roman building.
The permission to build a caravanscra, has always been considered in Turkey as a mark of distinction. At one time, however, this privilege was bestowed only upon the mothers and sisters of the sultans, and upon the vi ziers and bashaws who had gained three victories over the Christians. For an account of several of the cara vanscras in Persia, see Morier's Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, p. 81, 153,154, 272 ; and Jack son's Account of Marocco, p. 131. and 256. (w)