Caravanserais and their importance on caravan routes

. The article analyzes the processes related to the caravansary existing in the Bukhara Khanate, their architecture, structure, activities, services provided in the caravansary, its types, security system in the caravansary, and their specialization by industry. Key words


Introduction
Among the services provided on the caravan routes of the Bukhara Khanate, roadside facilities have a special place.During this period, the construction of caravanserai, rabot, bridges, wells, ponds and cisterns in the steppe and desert areas of the khanate was one of the leading links of the state policy.During this period, in many cases, the term "rabot" became synonymous with the word "caravansaray".The architectural structure of the caravanserais, which played an important role in the development of the caravan trade in the Middle Ages, preserved the traditions of the previous era, and they had certain characteristics and characteristics based on the fact that they were built along the caravan routes and cities with large trade centers [1].In particular, they served as a temporary stop for trade caravans, ambassadors, letter carriers, passengers, as well as government officials who were on duty and traveling.
In the last period of the Middle Ages, many caravanserais were built in the territory of Bukhara.Especially during the rule of the Shaybani dynasty, in particular, by Abdullah Khan II (1558-1598), large-scale works were carried out on the construction of roadside structures on the multi-branch caravan routes of the Bukhara Khanate.
The Caravanserai was a special temporary fortress-residence, hotel, and a place for their horses and cattle to rest and gather strength after a long journey for merchant-caravan people who traveled a long and hard way and connected international relations through trade relations.The word "palace" in Caravanserai means a large community, a social object, a building-structure that accommodates and gathers many people.Along with caravanserai, words such as bogchasaroy and poshshosaroy express the above meanings.Usually, caravanserais were built along trade routes.One of the trade centers of the Great Silk Road, the most famous of the trade routes, there are more than 50 different caravanserais in the territory of Bukhara Sharif, which receive up to 5000 merchants a day and provide them with various services.
Roadside caravanserais even served as fortifications that could be defended against some armed raids.In the event of a siege, they also had sufficient reserves to maintain their defense for 2-3 days.In these caravansaries, the merchants themselves, their property, and their lives were safe.

The main part
In the Bukhara Khanate, as in previous times, the rulers who were interested in the development of trade played a major role in the construction of roadside structures.It is known from the sources that in addition to the state treasury, local rich people, merchants and officials contributed a lot to the construction of caravanserais.For example, it can be noted that the owners of Dzhoybor built dozens of cisterns and cisterns along the roads leading to Bukhara -Karshi and Amudarya.Some of the buildings built for economic, religious and educational purposes in Bukhara city and its surroundings also belonged to Khojabor Khojas [2,3].Foreign researchers have also paid attention to the activity of Khojabor Khojas in building architectural complexes.In particular, the German expert Florian Schwartz puts forward his scientific point of view on the activity of Joybor farms [4].The representatives of this house spent a part of the countless wealth under their control for various good works, as a result, they built rabat, caravanserai, baths and cisterns along the caravan routes.
In addition to the state treasury, large merchants and officials, local rich people, i.e. social strata that benefited from trade, played a large role in the construction of caravanserais and rabots.
Caravanserai, one of the most important elements of caravan routes and trade, were usually built in cities with trade centers, along important caravan routes, and they differed from each other in terms of structure, size and, in some cases, their function.
Caravanserai were usually one-or two-story buildings surrounded by high thatched walls.The caravanserais built by Abdullah Khan II were mainly made of baked bricks.Stones are widely used in the construction of rabots in mountainous and mountainous regions.An example of this is the structure known as Toshrabot in the mountains of Hisar, on the mountain road from Yakkabog to Denov, and the settlement of Oqrabot, which was built on the mountain road from Guzar to Darband.
The first floor of the two-story caravansary consisted of stables, rooms for herds, fodder storage areas, warehouses for storing various goods, goods, products, a kitchen, a bakery, a barber shop, a toilet, and various other special rooms and buildings.The second floor consists of sleeping rooms.Usually, there were water wells in the middle of the caravanserai, which was considered one of the important characteristics of the caravanserai in the Bukhara Khanate The caravanserais built in the Middle Ages were similar in structure, mostly having a square inner courtyard and living rooms located around it.It is known that verandas were built along the inner courtyard of large caravanserais, and some large caravanserais had mosques for Muslim merchants.It should also be mentioned that the caravansary in the cities differed from the caravansary and rabots built along the caravan routes in terms of size, architectural decoration and other features.If the caravansary and rabots built along the trade routes have special stables for hunting, in large cities, the main hunting equipment is often placed outside the caravansary, and in some cases even outside the city for the sake of cleanliness [5].
Some of the caravanserais have special stables for keeping the horses of merchants.According to one of the purchase documents of the 16th century, the so-called caravanserai located in the Sarroflar bazaar in Bukhara consisted of "many rooms, a porch connected to them, and a stable."Sources mention the existence of "rooms for keeping horses and camels" E3S Web of Conferences 458, 07002 (2023) EMMFT-2023 https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202345807002 in Tashkent caravansary.In the city of Bukhara, the camels belonging to the caravans were kept in special caravansary outside the city, in particular, behind the Samarkand Gate.
With the development of trade and economic relations, the number of caravanserais also increased.This can be seen in the case of some cities in the region, such as Bukhara, Karshi, Shahrisabz and others.Most of the caravanserai built during the Shaibani and Ashtarkhani periods were used in the beginning of the 20th century [21].
It is known that in the Middle Ages, especially in the first half of the XVI-XVIII centuries, the socio-economic status of Central Asian cities increased.It is noticeable that the number of caravanserais has increased in these cities [22].In particular, cities such as Bukhara, Khiva, Tashkent, Samarkand and Kokand have become large trade and economic centers.In the cities, the market stalls were crowded with products made by artisans.Each market specialized in selling a certain type of product, and this type of product often marked the name of the market or stall.In this regard, it is possible to think on the basis of the documents that reflect the types of real estate purchased in Bukhara during 1545-1578 by the Joybor sheikhs, whose position in the political and economic life of the Bukhara khanate was constantly increasing.
The cities of the khanates appear not only as centers of trade with domestic or neighboring cities and peoples of the steppe, but also as centers of transit and foreign trade carried out by merchants of various foreign countries.Many caravan routes from far and near countries connect in cities.These roads started from the city gates of that time.
The importance of cities as external and transit trade centers was also highlighted in the 16th century.Englishman Antony Jenkinson, who visited this place in 1558, also recorded the gathering of merchants from India, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and other countries in the city of Bukhara alone [23].
With the passage of time, the types of products and goods brought by foreign merchants to the cities of the khans expanded.For example, in the first half of the 17th and 18th centuries, kimhob, gauze, Haidar silk, chit, shawls, various types of scarves, nil dye, pepper, cinnamon, zarchoba spices, rice, sugar, novvot, real precious stone were brought to Bukhara from India.Brass, leather scales from Peshawar; It is noted in the sources that osma, zarchoba, Afghan rifles, swords, knives, arrows and rice were brought from Kabul, and "toqtachoy", "akkuruk" (green tea), porcelain items, etc. were brought from China.Among these products, indigo dye, necessary for handicrafts, was brought in large quantities.It is written that "Caravans of Karshi, Bukhara and Khiva" were full of this product [24].
According to Hasanov A., one of the factors that increase the importance of Central Asian cities as large trade centers are caravanserais [25].Some of them are in good conditions, with high level of service, and there were also caravanserais that required each guest to have their own bed, livestock, and feed for them.
Caravanserai also served as wholesale markets.Because merchants coming and going from different countries of the world could not miss the convenient trading of goods, which was very profitable for them.At the same time, it became a place where you can keep up with the latest news happening in the world, and also the prices of goods.Since these places became a very profitable source of income for the owners of caravansary, not only merchants, but also large landowners, zamindars, sought to build and buy caravansary.
Such structures, which were necessary for foreign merchants to stay in the cities, live and store their goods, were the personal property of khans, emirs, representatives of the ruling dynasty, state officials, sheikhs of Islam, large merchants and investors, and were usually managed in their name.For example, according to the information of the Russian officer I. Vitkevich, who came to Bukhara in the 1930s, two of the city's caravansary belonged to the supreme ruler -amir, one to Qushbeg, another to Rajabbek Devanbeg, and one to Badriddin, a rich Afghan merchant [22].
In cases, city caravansary was donated by the owners for the benefit of certain mosques and madrasas.(the income from the operation of the caravanserai is directed to support some mosque or madrasa -dissertation) For example, according to the sources, the caravanserai of Tashkent under the names of Nurmuhammad Koshbegi, Isabek, Mahramboshi, Dasturkhanchi, Abdurasul were endowed for the benefit of mosques and madrasas.By the way, in some cases, caravanserais are partially endowed.In particular, onetenth of the profits of the Said Azim caravanserai in Tashkent, and only half of the income from the Shahbek caravanserai, were donated.
Sometimes caravans are rented by the owners.The person who rented the caravanserai paid a certain amount of rent to its owner.For example, according to the sources, the caravanserai of Rajabbek devanbeg in Bukhara brought its owner a profit of 300 Bukhara gold coins from the rent [22].
Usually, caravanserais are built of adobe bricks.As an example, it can be mentioned that the "rooms of the Gavkushan caravanserai" in Bukhara are made of baked bricks.In addition to brick, wood and straw were widely used in the construction of caravanserais.In the sources, in many cases, "wooden caravansary" is mentioned.Most caravanserais are built with two floors.Scholar G.Agzamova notes that the sources of the first half of the 18th century say that "most of the Bukhara caravanserais were built on the basis of a single roof.These are large square two-story buildings with no windows on their outer walls, like many other buildings in the cities, the first floor is a warehouse with a door facing the courtyard, and the second floor is occupied by foreign merchants.In some of the caravanserais of this type, a wall was built on the outside, and shops were built for the sale of various products.Sometimes there were shops inside the caravansary.Mention is made of the "shops" located inside the 16th-century Bukhara palace known as the "Caravan Palace of Moneymakers".Most of the caravanserais in Tashkent had shops inside [22].
Quadrangular two-story caravanserais were typical of all Central Asian cities.For example, the caravanserai located in the eastern part of Khiva was also built in a rectangular shape with two floors, and it had only one gate on the south side.There are 100 shops on the lower floor of the caravanserai, and the second floor is intended for merchants.
As a result of the expansion of the foreign economic relations of the khanate, the number of city caravansary is constantly increasing.This can be clearly observed in the case of the city of Bukhara.During the Shaibani and Ashtarkhani period, more than ten caravanserais served local and foreign merchants in Bukhara [26].
Foreign merchants who came to the cities of Central Asia usually lived in certain caravanserais depending on the country they came from.Among the foreign residents of Bukhara, the largest number were Indians, who at that time numbered approximately two E3S Web of Conferences 458, 07002 (2023) EMMFT-2023 https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202345807002thousand people.They were mainly engaged in money exchange and usury and settled in caravansaries where living conditions were the best.The caravansary where the Indians lived was under the control of the ruler, and they received a large amount of income from renting out the rooms in the caravansary to the Indians for a large fee.One such caravanserai is Hinduyon caravanserai (Indian caravanserai -dissertation student), which is located on the west side of Abdulaziz Khan madrasa, between Toki Zargaron and Timi Abdullah Khan.This place was also called Filkhana.Because Indian traders came with caravans of elephants and lived and traded here.European-style brick buildings were built there in later centuries, and later this building was also used as a post office.
City caravansary not only provided services for foreign merchants, but also played an important role in the activities of local merchants.Local merchants kept their goods in caravansary and conducted wholesale trade through them.In particular, the wealthy merchants from Tashkent, who do retail trade, stored their goods in the Isabek, Shohbek, Dasturkhanchi, Abdurasul and Mulla Omonboy Rais caravansaries in Tashkent.
"When it comes to caravansary, it should be noted that every Bukhara merchant has a room in a caravansary.Because there is no other place for him to put and store his goods", wrote I.Vitkevich [27].It can be seen that there were many ancient palaces in Bukhara, for example, in the area from the Kokaldosh madrasa to the Mag'oki Attori mosque, there was a two-story Tatar-style hotel called "Turon" -Hakim Ayim palace, Amir Sayyid palace and Jannatmakon palace, and Domullo Shir palace.Samarkand rice and all kinds of small goods, attar goods were sold in Palace Jannatmakon.
On the side of the big stone road from Labi Hovuz to Taqi Zargaron, there are Saray Saifiddin teahouse, Saray Gulomjon teahouse, Saray Chita Chatti (local packaging workshop), Saray Badriddin teahouse, small production workshop and trade shop (manufactory).At the end of the street is the Karshi Caravanserai or Hindu Palace.
In the area from Taqi Zargaron to Pond Rashid, the Barrayi Palace, a one-story, wooden and straw-built, large-scale warehouse, often serving as a storehouse for a certain type of product or raw material, was used to trade in livestock products.He was engaged in tea trade in the Rashid Palace, and a banking institution was located in the Jorabek Palace.On the side of the road leading to the Govkushon Madrasa, goods imported from Iran were traded in Nogai Palace, various state courts were located in Karvonboshi Palace, merchants from the Caucasus were trading in Olimjan Palace, tea was traded in Abdullajan Palace, and an almshouse was established in Kushbegi Palace.
In this direction, on the left side of the street to Toki Telpakfurushon, there is a palace Fathullojan -where various pottery products and porcelain dishes were traded, and there is a court of state officials in the palace Mirzo Muhiddin.So, the entire territory of the Shahristan market consisted of palaces.Here is Khojai Khurd palace (trade of tea and various gas goods), Mirzogul palace, Khojai Kalon palace, Chinni palace (trade of porcelain dishes and trays), three Sanduk palaces (used to be private furniture manufacturers), Taniga palace (hairdressing).was engaged in activities), G'o'lung palace (traded in apricot pulp and turshak), Tamoku palace (traded in local tobacco and talc plants).
From Toki Telpakfuroshan to Rastai Nahalgaron (a stall of horse shoe makers and sellers), there were five shoemakers' palaces, such as Haji Hikmat Shogii, Mir Abroi, Saroyi Nav, Otkuri, Kushbegi.Ko'lyuta Palace is located in the area of Korpa market behind Toki Telpakfuroshan, where the money changers were located and operated.In the small caravansary in the cities, mostly poor passengers, merchants without cargo, and cargo carriers on their camels stopped.Such caravansaries were mainly in Tashkent, where Russian cargo carriers often stopped [28].It should be noted that not only various products are stored in caravanserais, but wholesale trade is also carried out here.Certain officials and servants in the caravansary are coordinating the caravansary management.For example, all the black pelts brought to Bukhara were collected in the old caravanserai of Barrayi, and after they were separated into types by specialized servants -nobles, they were tied up by borbands.In addition, the tax collectors in the caravanserai used to collect zakat from the goods brought in a separate room.
The function of the caravanserai was not limited to that, in some cases, artisans who produced a certain type of product also lived in them.According to information, Russian Tatars lived in the Nogai caravanserai in Bukhara and "spent most of their time in the open air" sewing shoes.Also, in the Filkhana caravanserai of Bukhara, the Tatar artisans lived and engaged in handicrafts, and in the Shona caravanserai in Mojazgina, comb makers lived [25].The medieval caravanserai served as a barometer of the city's growing tolerance.Where wellequipped caravanserais were built, merchants of various nationalities came and did business.From time immemorial, the people of Bukhara have shown great enthusiasm in building caravansary in a convenient location and direction, with all-round conditions.Also, there were more caravanserais in the cities of Samarkand, Tashkent, Shahrisabz, Karshi, Kitab, and Margilan than in other cities.
In front of it, two caravanserais were built during the Shaibani and Ashtarkhani period, and they provided various services to merchants along with the caravanserais built in the later period [26].The Koba caravanserai built in Shahrisabz in the middle of the 16th century has been preserved until now [30].
The above information allows us to draw conclusions about the appropriate contribution of caravanserais to the development of trade and trade-related tasks of caravanserais.In most cases, 10 to 15 passengers lived in the cabins of the caravanserais [31].Information on rents in caravanserais is rare in the sources.Some information about the Middle Ages allows us to make only general conclusions about this problem.
In this way, many caravanserais were built along trade routes, in cities that were considered trade centers, in large villages and fortresses.Roadside caravanserais and rabots located in the territory of Uzbekistan and neighboring republics and preserved until our time belong mainly to the Middle Ages.
The caravanserais formed along the transit routes were usually called "rabot" and not only merchants and their families, but also pilgrims, travelers, statesmen and ambassadors stopped there.Therefore, apart from farmyards and rooms, stables, barns, living yard and rooms, rest rooms, mosque, kitchen, cistern and other necessary rooms, special rooms for soldiers and guards were built in the rabots.
Most caravanserais, depending on their size, had one, two, three or even more courtyards and several wells and cisterns.In caravans with two or more yards, the first or second yard E3S Web of Conferences 458, 07002 (2023) EMMFT-2023 https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202345807002 is considered a household yard, while the others are intended for living.All rooms are located side by side around the courtyard or connected to the courtyard by a corridor (gallery).Living rooms are accessed through a corridor.
Caravanserai built on caravan routes are distinguished by the appearance of protected fortifications, minarets and a mosque, but there was no need for the construction of such parts in caravanserai in cities. Living rooms for guests, rooms for merchants, utility rooms, barns, warehouses, and shops were built in them.Awnings are placed in the central composition axes of the courtyards of some caravanserais.The midwife's caravanserai built on the territory of Turkmenistan has such a design.In the Marv oasis, in the caravanserai near the town of al-Asqar, there were similar verandas in front of the rooms [25].
As an example of a multi-yard caravanserai, Raboti Malik caravanserai built on the Bukhara-Samarkand road, near Karmana, among the large roadside structures that amazed contemporaries, can be cited.The facade, foundations of the Rabati Malik caravanserai and the nearby cistern have been preserved to this day.The facade, restored in the 12th century, is decorated with monochronous, i.e. monochromatic decor (brick and carved reliefsdissertation student).From this century, rabots began to lose their function as large fortresses.They began to serve as hotels and caravanserais.Rabati Malik (king's residence) is a huge building, i.e. 86 m on the sides.It was square and had arched porches (galleries) built for horses.Behind it was a luxurious courtyard, from where a narrow passage led to the main room.He had the largest, luxurious courtyard of five different sizes in Central Asia.In addition to the rooms listed above, the Rabati Malik Caravanserai had a medical service room (dispensary) for sick guests, a special bathroom for passengers to take ablution, and public toilets.His cistern is located near the caravanserai, which has been completely renovated today.
Most of the caravanserais are square, rectangular in shape, the walls are made of adobe bricks, some caravansares are built of raw bricks, and the front is finished with adobe bricks.The main entrance is embossed with a pediment, and the sides of the style are decorated with bouquets.Caravanserai decorated with traditional brick patterns or tile patterns were also built [25].
Caravanserai are sometimes built with two floors.Two-story caravanserais are more characteristic of cities.Most of them had shops and warehouses on the first floor, where merchants traded, and rooms on the second floor.That's why most of the city caravansary took the form of markets and wholesale trade was carried out in them.The caravansary in the cities combined with covered bazaars, squares and shopping streets, forming a system of integrated trade facilities and markets.

Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that caravanserais are sometimes built with two floors.Two-story caravanserais are typical for more cities.Most of them had shops and warehouses on the first floor, where merchants traded, and rooms on the second floor.That's why most of the city caravansary have the appearance of markets and wholesale trade is carried out in them.The caravansary in the cities combined with covered bazaars, squares and shopping streets, forming a whole system of trade facilities and markets.