Sarai (resting place)

A caravanserai (/kærəˈvænsəri/; 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, especially along the Silk Road.

These were found frequently along the Achaemenid Empire's Royal Road, a 2,500-kilometre-long (1,600 mi) ancient highway that stretched from Sardis to Susa according to Herodotus: "Now the true account of the road in question is the following: Royal stations exist along its whole length, and excellent caravanserais; and throughout, it traverses an inhabited tract, and is free from danger." Major urban caravanserais were also built along the Grand Trunk Road in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the region of Mughal Bengal.

The word is also rendered as caravansary, caravansaray, caravanseray and caravansara. The Persian word کاروانسرای kārvānsarāy is a compound word combining kārvān "caravan" with sarāy "palace", "building with enclosed courts", to which the Persian suffix -yi is added. Here "caravan" means a group of traders, pilgrims, or other travelers, engaged in long distance travel. The word serai is sometimes used with the implication of caravanserai.

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