caravanserai

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• caravansarai, caravansary

Etymology

From Persian کاروانسرای (kârvânserây), from کاروان (kârvân) ‘caravan’ + سرای (sarây) ‘palace, dwelling’ or ‘enclosed courts’.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kaɹəˈvansəɹʌɪ/

Noun

caravanserai (plural caravanserais)

1. A roadside inn having a central courtyard where caravans can rest.
   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 48:

     Eight days later, after leaving the desert and riding through neatly tended villages and snow-capped mountain scenery, he arrived there, hiring himself a room in a caravanserai near the bazaar.

2. A home or shelter for caravans.

Synonyms

• khan

Translations

an inn having a central courtyard where caravans can rest

• Arabic: كاروانسرا (ar) (kārwānsarā) m
• Armenian: քարվանսարա (hy) (kʿarvansara)
• Azeri: karvansara (az)
• Bashkir: ҡарауанһарай (qarawanharay)
• Bulgarian: кервансарай (bg) (kervansaráj) m
• Catalan: caravanserrall (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 商隊旅館 (cmn), 商队旅馆 (cmn) (shāngduì lǚguǎn)

• Czech: karavansaraj (cs)
• Dutch: karavanserai (nl)
• Esperanto: karavanserajo (eo)
• French: caravansérail (fr) m
• Georgian: ქარვასლა (ka) (k’arvasla)
• German: Karawanserei (de) f
• Hungarian: karavánszeráj (hu)
• Italian: caravanserraglio (it) m
• Japanese: キャラバンサライ (ja) (kyarabansarai)
• Kazakh: керуен сарай (kk) (kerwyen saray)

• Kurdish: karwansera (ku) f, karwanseray (ku) f

  Sorani: کاروانسەرا (kârvân-sarâ)

• Kyrgyz: кербен-сарай (ky) (kerben-saray)
• Norwegian: karavaneserai (no)
• Persian: کاروان‌سرا (fa) (kârvân-sarâ)
• Polish: karawanseraj (pl) m
• Portuguese: caravançarai (pt) m, caravançará (pt), caravancerá (pt)
• Russian: караван-сарай (ru) (karavan-saráj) m, каравансарай (ru) (karavansaráj) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: каравансарај (sh) m

  Roman: karavansaraj (sh) m

• Spanish: caravasar (es) m, caravansaray (es) m
• Tajik: корвонсарой (tg) (korvonsaroy)
• Turkish: kervansaray (tr)
• Uzbek: karvonsaroy (uz)
• Volapük: karovöp (vo)

See also

• 

  Interior of the Caravanserai of Sa'd al-Saltaneh in Qazvin.

• 

  Caravanserai of Shah Abbas, now a hotel, in Isfahan. View is from courtyard (sahn).

• 

  A sample plan of Safavid caravanserai.

References

• Hillenbrand, Robert. 1994. Islamic Architecture: Form, function and meaning. NY: Columbia University Press. (see Chapter VI for an in depth overview of the caravanserai).
• Sims, Eleanor. 1978. Trade and Travel: Markets and Caravanserais.' In: Michell, George. (ed.). 1978. Architecture of the Islamic World - Its History and Social Meaning. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 80-111.
• Yavuz, Aysil Tükel. 1997. The Concepts that Shape Anatolian Seljuq Caravanserais. In: Gülru Necipoglu (ed). 1997. Muqarnas XIV: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 80-95. Available online as a PDF document, 1.98 MB archnet.org/library/pubdownloader/pdf/8967/doc/DPC1304.pdf.