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Hasani Bafrani N, Saedvandi M, Nadimi H. Explanation of Sociopolitical Values of the Suburban Caravanserais in the Central Iranian Plateau in the Safavid Era. CIAUJ 2024; 9 (1) :143-168
URL: http://ciauj-tabriziau.ir/article-1-521-en.html

Caravanserais are among the prominent architectural heritages of Iran which emerged long ago on the East-West commercial highway in the emergence of which other political, military, religious, etc. factors were effective. Today, the roadsides of this land are filled with valuable buildings that have lost their previous role with the emergence of modernism and are prone to erosion and destruction due to insufficient care. Therefore, the present study aimed to explain the sociopolitical values of the caravanserais, raising the question of how the sociopolitical values affected the emergence of suburban caravanserais in the central Iranian plateau. It is descriptive-analytical qualitative research that uses documentary and field methods to collect the data. According to the investigations, the political values of the suburban caravanserais in the central Iranian plateau are explained and categorized into three systemic levels including preserving the system (political propaganda and suppression of domestic and foreign riots, etc.), adaptability (coordination with the government’s policies), process level including the participation in events (a rest area for the government officials, travelers and foreign ambassadors), conformity and support (built by different social classes, endowment), and justice (free accommodation for travelers from all walks of life), as well as the policy-making level including the welfare (existence of the clinics, services for the travelers, peripheral villages, governors, etc.), security (presence of caravanserai director, guards, and establishment of the security), and freedom (existence of private rooms to protect privacy). Also, the social values of these buildings have been explained in five dimensions including the security (castle-like formation, presence of the caravanserai director, closed gates during the night, and building and reconstruction of the caravanserais), tradition (cultural exchange between different ethnicities, strengthening the national-religious unity, being effective in conveying the Shiite themes, etc.), conformity (participation of various social classes in construction of the caravanserais, being used by all social classes, and naming the caravanserai after the people of a town), altruism (presence of clinics and endowments, free accommodation for the travelers, providing services to the travelers and peripheral villages, etc.), and belief in salvation (endowment of caravanserai and providing service to pilgrims and scholars).