A caravan or cafila is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defense against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade. Some of the first caravans on the Silk Road were sent out by Emperor Wu of Han in the 2nd century BCE when this vast network of roads was 'born', and as China began exporting large quantities of silk and other goods west, particularly destined for the Roman Empire.
Edwin Lord Weeks, Arrival of a Caravan Outside the City of Morocco
A trade caravan passing the Isle of Graia in the Gulf of Akabah, Arabia Petraea,1839 lithograph by Louis Haghe from an original by David Roberts
Camel caravan in Morocco, November 2013
A caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa and Southeast Europe, most notably the Silk Road. Often located along rural roads in the countryside, urban versions of caravanserais were also historically common in cities throughout the Islamic world, and were often called other names such as khan, wikala, or funduq.
The Izadkhast caravanserai (early 17th century), Fars Province, Iran
The Ganjali Khan Caravanserai (1598), in Kerman, Iran
Khan As'ad Pasha, a caravanserai built in 1752 in Damascus, Syria
Funduq al-Najjarin in Fes, Morocco