Historical Overview of the Multani Caravanserai — Vafa Guliyeva and Hokyuma Agayeva
Historical Overview of the Multan Caravanserai
Ancient international trade routes connecting the East and the West also passed through the Absheron Peninsula. Caravan trade routes originating from China and India crossed Central Asia and reached the ports of the Caspian Sea — Baku and Derbent, from where they headed north towards the Khazar Khaganate. From there, goods were transported via the Kura and Rioni rivers to the shores of the Black Sea and further to Byzantium. Baku and Absheron were connected to the main trade routes through local caravan roads: one route ran from Baku along the Caspian coast to the lower reaches of the Kura River; the second route went northwest from Baku to the center of the peninsula, then turned west through Gobustan to Shamakhi; and the third, branching off from the second, passed through the northern part of the peninsula and connected to the main trade highway leading to Derbent. These ancient routes remained active during the Middle Ages as well.
By the end of the 10th century, Baku had already become an important port on the Caspian Sea and participated in international transit trade via both sea and caravan routes. Merchants from the Khazar lands, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Central Asia, India, and Syria came to Baku. In exchange for the goods they brought, caravans carried away oil, salt, fish, saffron, and other local products. Alongside these, crafts products were exported, primarily silk and woolen fabrics, carpets, and carpet products.
At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries, international trade in the Caspian region expanded, and maritime trade developed. From this time, Genoese and Venetian merchants, whose ships already sailed the Black Sea, established their trading posts along the Caspian coast and conducted active trade there. The main item of international trade during this period was silk from Gilan and Shamakhi. Consequently, Baku’s importance as the most convenient port on the Caspian significantly increased. This is also mentioned in the Catalan Atlas compiled in 1375.
Until the end of the 14th century, goods from the Caspian coastal countries — mainly silk, silk fabrics, carpets, and other products — were exported through Baku and Derbent to Astrakhan, the Golden Horde, Russia, and Europe — mainly Italy and France. From the Baku port, goods were transported to Astrakhan, then along the Volga and Don rivers, and from there, Venetian merchants’ galleys carried them through the Sea of Azov to Europe.
One of Baku’s main sources of income was trade. Therefore, Shirvanshahs, city authorities, and the merchants themselves paid special attention to the development of trade. All conditions were created for foreign merchants arriving in the city, and their safety was ensured. For this purpose, caravanserais were built.
Caravanserais were divided into two types: city caravanserais and those located along caravan trade routes. Both types were fortress-like structures without windows, featuring a single entrance door, loopholes, and surrounded by strong walls. The caravanserais situated on trade routes were complex monuments. The complex included separate guest rooms, warehouses, wells, mosques, and stables.
The Multani Caravanserai is located in Icherisheher, opposite the Bukhara Caravanserai. It was built in the 14th century for Zoroastrian merchants arriving from the city of Multan in India (now located in Pakistan). The architectural and planning structure of the caravanserai consists of galleries surrounding the courtyard along the perimeter, with separate rooms behind them intended for living quarters.
The entrance to the caravanserai is designed as a deep portal topped with a pointed arch. Behind the massive wooden gates begins a passage covered by a pointed vault leading into the courtyard. The end of the passage is also finished with an arch of the same height as the living rooms and galleries. Thus, the arches forming the octagonal courtyard are all at the same height. One of the rooms adjacent to the passage was converted into a stairwell leading to the basement.
The Multani Caravanserai was built according to a traditional compositional scheme. From the trade street side, it appears as a one-story building with a simple facade measuring 35 by 35 meters. Inside is a closed octagonal courtyard with isolated living rooms. In the southwest part of the building, six living rooms with their original layout have been preserved to this day. Three of them open to the courtyard through a common terrace with a hexagonal pointed arch and an interesting vaulted ceiling. The other three rooms each have their own terraces of the same height but different widths.
The rooms in the northwest section of the caravanserai have not survived — a garden was laid out in their place. The basement of the Multani Caravanserai is one of its most interesting parts. Today, from the side of the 20th-century residential building occupying the eastern part of the complex, the basement is perceived as the first floor, with its floor level about 60 cm below the asphalt level. Currently, the caravanserai is at the level of the second floor. Thus, the visible part now is the second floor of the building, while the first floor and basement remain underground.
Experts note that this annex is stylistically and functionally unrelated to the caravanserai. It consists of four long rooms covered with cylindrical vaults. The lower part of the building (the underground level) extended eastward. During the construction of the residential building in the early 20th century, this part of the monument was destroyed.
The main construction materials of the monument were small blocks and limestone with a fine-grained structure, traditional for the Shirvan-Abseron architectural school. The building’s foundation consists of natural rock mass. The vaulted ceilings of the older underground rooms are made from precisely hewn building stones bonded with a complex lime mortar.
Authors:
Vafa Guliyeva, Doctor of Historical Sciences
Administration of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher”
Hokuma Agayeva, Researcher
Administration of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher”
