On a long and dreary road through the desert, where travellers are surrounded by a flat horizon line, the passing of time loses its tangibility. But nowadays, with the high-speed motorway through the Karakums, this feeling is hardly familiar to passengers of rushing cars. They rush at such speed that life seems to fly much faster... Meanwhile, some unknown ruins flicker by, enlivening the monotonous landscape. One cannot stop, even to slow down, but one can imagine that long ago, somewhere very near, almost parallel to the modern motorway, there was an ancient caravan route. A 30-kilometre stretch, which today can be covered in just 15 minutes, a camel caravan covered during daylight hours.
“In ancient times, caravans were led by blind guides,” traveller and journalist Lawrence Green wrote. “Trails in the desert are saturated with the smell of camels. Sandstorms could cover the tracks, but the smell remained – weak, but still sufficient for the sensitive nose of a blind guide. Every mile, he would take a handful of sand and sniff it. In a land without any landmarks, a blind man was more useful than a sighted one.” Even centuries later, the trails trodden by countless caravans are still discernible in the Karakums. Like deep wrinkles, they do not fade from the face of the earth and are clearly visible from a bird’s eye view, and even better on space photographs. These routes, sometimes covered with sand, snake between the dunes, disappear on takyrs and reappear again until they lead to another clay ruin that once was a caravanserai.
It is natural that only the most important routes from the Volga region through Khorezm and from China through Maverannahr to Iran have been identified. They are known from a number of written sources, the earliest of which are the works by Arab geographers of the late 9th – first half of the 10th century, such as Ibn Khordabeh, al-Yakubi, Qudamah ibn Jafar, al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal. However, they described only the main routes, in addition to which there were many others that were not included in medieval guidebooks. This idea was suggested by archaeologist Alexander Marushchenko, the most competent expert on Karakum antiquities. Indeed, it is enough to look at the British and Russian maps of the Transcaspian region of the 19th century to see a web of trails connecting numerous wells throughout the desert.
It should be assumed that medieval caravan routes did not fit into separate highways but formed a complex network of multidirectional roads. Along them, there grew chains of caravanserais, many of which were used for centuries until the complete demise of land transcontinental trade and postal service after the fall of the Timurid state. All of them, according to al-Yakubi, “represent fortresses in the desert.” These stations were built for rest and protection of caravans along all the main routes in such a way that a caravan, having left one stop in the morning, reached the next by night.
What is a caravanserai? Most often, it is a roadside inn, a modest hotel courtyard for overnight staying of travelers. But there were exceptions. Some were not built for regular customers. They served as temporary residences for monarchs during royal hunts, diplomatic missions or military campaigns.
These are, for example, Rabat-i Malik, the steppe palace of the Karakhanids, the Seljuk Rabat-i Sharaf on the road from Serakhs to Nishapur, and, of course, the monumental Dayahatyn on the eastern edge of the Karakums, on the very bank of the Amu Darya River, built or reconstructed under the Great Seljuks. Construction of such facilities on important trade routes was the prerogative of state authority; it was part of the duties of an “ideal” ruler, proving his care of the prosperity of his country.
The good reputation of a sultan, khan or emir was directly proportional to the number and magnificence of caravanserais erected by his order. A traveller entering a shady and elegant, arcaded courtyard of a caravanserai after a tiring journey had to feel like a personal guest of a pious ruler who cared about his safety and comfort. That is why the architecture of large caravanserais was far from calculated utilitarianism. They were truly “caravan palaces”, striking with luxury of their decoration and size, for the decoration and equipment of which the state spared no money. And their structure was little different from real palaces.
Most caravanserais, both elite and regular, were of the same type. They had a square or rectangular layout, with one high portal and a lancet arch above the entrance, with blind, windowless walls and angular corner towers. A vaulted vestibule led into a courtyard, spacious enough to accommodate up to four hundred pack animals. In its center, there was usually a well or a small pool called khauz. Covered galleries ran along the perimeter of a courtyard with living quarters behind them. Some rabats had two courtyards. The first, more formal one, housed a hotel, while the second housed a stable, stalls for camels and storage rooms for goods and fodder. The external dimensions of caravanserais varied from 15 to 180 meters in length. Each had at least one signal tower. It hovered prominently above the building, and every night a fire was lit on its top. This beacon signaled lost caravans. Along the roads, in addition to inns, wells were dug. There were also sardobas (underground reservoirs for storing water), as well as mele – tower-shaped waymarks for caravans.
There is one atypical caravanserai that has been preserved almost in the very center of the Karakums. In fact, there is a whole town of the 10th–11th centuries with no road left at all. This clay fort is unusual in its layout. A round citadel up to eight meters high stands inside a spacious rectangular courtyard with almost collapsed walls. In some places, dunes have already swallowed them up. Once upon a time, caravans would rest, and goods would be stored in this town. Later, when trade routes shifted to other countries, a certain Bozoglan Khan, a local leader, settled there for a while. This structure was named after him, although there is a second popular name – Gyzyldzha-kala.
In total, about one hundred caravanserais have been registered to date with precise recording of their geographical coordinates in the desert zone of Balkan province and on the outskirts of the Merv oasis, as well as in the Zaunguz Karakum in the north of the country, on sections of the caravan routes between Dehistan, Nisa, Sarakhs, the Amu Darya River and Southern Khorezm. They appeared in the territory of Turkmenistan long before the arrival of the Arabs and Islam. The ruins of “trade fortresses” from the Sassanid and, possibly, Parthian times have been preserved. Their main function was clearly defensive, but they were already adapted to receiving and servicing trade caravans.
However, the large-scale construction of buildings of this type began only in the Muslim era – from the first years of Islamization of Iran and Central Asia in the second half of the 7th century. In the conquered lands, the Arabs began to erect military fortresses called rabat or ribat. They housed detachments of warriors called ghazi – “fighters for the faith”. Later, they started offering shelter services for merchants with their caravans and other travellers, and rabats got an additional function of inns. This led to the confusion of terms, and from the 9th century, caravanserais were often called rabats. By that time, the original meaning of the word “rabat” had already been forgotten.
Scientists have found that the most active period of caravanserai construction began around 1080 and ended about eighty years later. This was the period of prosperity of the Great Seljuk state. The caravanserais of those years embodied the technical, engineering and artistic achievements of the craftsmen hired by the rulers who sought to ensure the security and prosperity of their state.
Not only sovereigns financed construction in the desert. Every wealthy merchant or rich sheikh considered it pleasing to God to make a generous donation for the construction and maintenance of caravanserais. Commercial and religious activities in the Islamic world are closely intertwined, and the Koran contains a direct reference to this. “There is no sin on you if you seek favors from your Lord by engaging in trade”. Therefore, pilgrims travelling to Mecca and other holy places carried their goods in caravans to at least recoup the cost of the Hajj. And since there is no more pious purpose for a Muslim than to perform the Hajj, everything that contributes to it is also pleasing to God.
The construction of caravanserais was among the obvious priorities. Their architectural decoration was even more so. For this purpose, famous craftsmen were hired – stone and ganch carvers, experienced calligraphers and ceramists, who created the now famous masterpieces of Islamic art. It is worth looking at the main facade of the above-mentioned Dayahatyn caravanserai. The sacred words “Allah”, “Mohammed”, “Ali”, “Omar”, “Abu-Bekr” and “Osman” were inscribed on six large rectangular panels (one per panel) of relief brickwork in strongly geometric Kufi handwriting. There are many other indications of the close connection of caravanserais with commerce and religion. It was the enormous resources of the Seljuk state and their claims to spiritual power in the Abbasid Caliphate that became the driving force behind their large-scale architectural activity.
The intercity caravanserais were massive fortifications with thick walls and strong gates. In addition to rooms where travelers rested, they housed trade shops and stalls for camels, horses and cattle, workshops and baths. Detachments of warriors served there to protect caravanserais and their inhabitants from attacks of robbers. Large caravanserais were also trading posts where goods could be sold or exchanged. In many caravanserais, musicians played for the entertainment of the guests. And for zealous Muslims there was always a prayer room on the side of the gate. Some caravanserais had small mosques in the courtyard. Services on the caravan routes were provided free of charge. It was only in towns that travelers had to pay for overnight accommodation.
The caravan routes were used not only to transport goods but also carry information about different peoples – most often vague, ambiguous but still arousing interest in people living in different parts of the world. Such contacts could not but influence the culture of the peoples through whose lands they were carried out. That is why the Great Silk Road is one of the most remarkable achievements of ancient civilizations, which for the first time in human history made it possible to connect different peoples over the vast expanses from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. And how many cities and settlements emerged thanks to this route, how many received an impetus for growth! Looking at the territory of modern Turkmenistan, one can see how many monuments of different epochs testify to this.
Seven caravanserais located in the desert between Turkmenabad and Mary were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023. They form the western branch of the so-called Zaravshan-Karakum corridor of the Great Silk Road, which is 866 kilometers long, uniting monuments from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Another transnational serial nomination – the Volga-Caspian Corridor – is being put forward for inscription on this prestigious list. Turkmenistan is preparing it together with its Caspian neighbors – Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan. Each country will have to identify sites associated with the main caravan routes between the North and the South. Experts have already developed a common strategy, and UNESCO national commissions are coordinating the actions of countries through whose territories the routes of merchants, travelers, preachers and scientists once ran. Many centuries ago, they paved the way from city to city and from one culture to another, contributing not only to the economic development and well-being of nations, but also to building bridges between them. They were the first steps towards globalization, towards realization of the unity and indivisibility of a common heritage, shared values and a common destiny in a rapidly changing world.
Caravans are no longer found on the roads, but their trails have not disappeared completely. The cultural progress of the peoples of Eurasia is the main achievement of thousands of years of trade activities on the Silk Road. And medieval caravanserais are now not only architectural monuments, but also symbols of trust, not hostility, peace, not war and not decline, but prosperity.