{"id":1764,"date":"2018-05-12T16:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.courtauld.ac.uk\/crossingfrontiers\/?page_id=1764"},"modified":"2020-01-03T11:50:42","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T11:50:42","slug":"karatay-han","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.courtauld.ac.uk\/crossingfrontiers\/crossing-frontiers\/turkey\/kayseri\/karatay-han\/","title":{"rendered":"Karatay Han"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patricia Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Construction of the Karatay Han on the road from Kayseri to Malatya was probably begun under orders from sultan Al\u0101 al-D\u012bn Kayqub\u0101d I (r. 1220-37) in accordance with the practice of Seljuk rulers to commission their amir<\/em>s to build elements of infrastructure. Its patron, Jal\u0101l al-D\u012bn Qara\u1e6d\u0101y (d. 1254) was one of the Seljuk notables who remained in power after the Mongol conquest of Anatolia in 1243, and became a major patron once the sultans\u2019 projects lapsed, and funds were freed up for personal investments. This is reflected in Jal\u0101l al-D\u012bn Qara\u1e6d\u0101y\u2019s endowment deed that establishes foundations centered on Konya, including the Karatay Medrese (completed in 1251-52).<\/p>\n

The covered section was built during this initial phase of construction, which was probably interrupted for a few years after the death of the sultan until the project was revived again by Jal\u0101l al-D\u012bn Qara\u1e6d\u0101y in 638\/ 1241. Under his patronage, the courtyard was added to the foundation and a mausoleum was built. The latter, a rather unusual addition to a caravanserai, is heavily decorated with tiles and a carved frieze depicting animals. While Kurt Erdmann suggests that the founder\u2019s burial is found here, but according to Osman Turan, it is more likely that Jal\u0101l al-D\u012bn Qara\u1e6d\u0101y was buried in the mausoleum in his madrasa<\/em> in Konya.<\/p>\n

On the fa\u00e7ade of the caravanserai, the portal forms a salient block, with frames surrounding a muqarnas<\/em> hood over the doorway; the ornamentation on the frames is mostly geometric. The caravanserai consists of a courtyard and a covered section, a plan scheme common for thirteenth-century caravanserais in Anatolia. The portal of the covered section is also salient, yet with a simple pointed arch creating the frame for the doorway, and devoid of muqarnas<\/em>. Suzan Yalman has argued that since the portal of the courtyard was completed later than that of the covered section, the patron had risen far enough in status to be able to build a muqarnas<\/em> portal, an element rife with royal connotations in the early thirteenth century.<\/p>\n

The size and wealth of the foundation were not lost on medieval observers. Writing about the Anatolian campaign that Mamluk sultan Baybars (r. 1260\u201377) undertook in 1277 against the Ilkhanids, the Syrian chronicler Ibn Fa\u1e0dl-all\u0101h al-\u02bfUmar\u012b (d. 1349) described the monument, emphasizing its size, the wealth of materials used, and the services available for weary travellers.<\/p>\n

Interactive Plan<\/h4>\n\r\n\t
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Image Gallery<\/h4>\n