CONCENTRICALLY PLANNED SELJUK HANS IN ANATOLIA
Journal Name:
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi
Author Name |
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Abstract (2. Language):
The institution of caravanserai has its most variations in Seljuk
Anatolia, as the work of late Kurt Erdmann, "Das Anatolische
Karavansaray des 13. Jahrhunderts" very well illustrates. Erdmann
has also classified the Hans for the first time, according to the
existence of the closed sections, the "hall" and the open
section, the "court".
The trilogy of concentrically planned Seljuk Hans consists of Alara
Han, Eshab-i. Kehf Han and Mama Hatun Kervansarayı. Erdmann has
classified Alara and Eshab-i Kehf Hans under "court hans""and
Ünal has noted the similarity between Eshab-i Kehf and Hatun
Kervansarayı. The three hans have been grouped together and
compared by the author in 1967 , in relation to with a research on m
Alara Han. In this article mainly the plan types of the three
hans will be discussed, re-valuating them on first hand
information collected İn 1970.
Alara Han lies on the,north-south Seljuk caravan road, and is
the second stop from Alanya in the direction of Antalya and Konya.
It was constructed by Alaaddin' Keykubad I in 1331/2 (H.629). It
roughly measures 38 m. X 50 m. and is oriented to the north. The
core of the concentrical plan is occupied by the "travellers'
quarters". There is a narrow courtyard at the center of the
"core" with three rooms and four eyvans lined alternatingly on
its long sides. The courtyard was originally covered with a barrel
vault. The north section of the outer circles of the concentrical
plan is occupied by the services of the Han. The small courtyard
at the back of the portal serves as the main distribution area.
The star-vaulted eyvan on tha east, the masjid on the west, the
inner portal and the north corridor on the north open to this
court. The north corridor leads to two other rooms of the service
section as well as to the two-ring galleries which encircle the
core on the remaining three sides. The inner ring of the
galleries most probably served for sleeping as well as for
unloading purposes with its high platform (under mud at the
present), and the exterior ring served as the stables. The two
galleries are connected to each other and to other rings by
means of arched openings. The small rectangular windows on the
rear walls of the rooms and the eyvans helped the masters
control their servants, goods and animals in t*b^ galleries.
Eshab-i Kehf Han belongs to a group of buildings consisting of
a mosque, a ribat and a han on the site of the cave of the
"Seven Sleepers", near Elbistan, Maraş. The Han was constructed
by the governor of Maraş, Emir Nusrat-al-din Hasan bin Ibrahim,
before his death in 1234. The building was used by the pilgrims
who came to visit the cave; it did not serve for commercial
purposes, since it did not lie on a caravan route. The Han which
was heavily restored after 1960, measures 28 m. X 30 m. and is
oriented to the north. The eyvan at back of the portal leads to
a room on its west and to the stables on its east sides and
opens to the courtyard in front. The "core" has the courtyard
at the center, the main eyvan at the south side, and rooms and
eyvans lined along the long sides of the courtyard. There are
three rooms and two eyvans on each side, starting with an eyvan,
followed by a room, another eyvan, and two more rooms after it.
There are two other rooms on each side of the main eyvan. The
short north arm of the stables meets the west arm that runs
along the west side of the building.
Mama Hatun Kervansarayı lies on the busy east-west caravan road,
in Tercan, between Ercincan and Erzurum. The caravanserai must
have been constructed about the end of the XIII th century and
has had several Ottoman repairs and alterations. It is the
largest of the concentrically planned hans, measuring 51 m. X
51 m. The east section of the outer, rings of the concentrical
plan is devoted to the service spaces, as in Alara Han. The west
corridor which runs perpendicular to the entrance corridor
opens to the stables on its ends and to the courtyard by means
of arched openings at the central section. The stables which
complete the outer concentric rings run along the north and the
south walls of the Han. There are two rooms at the end of the
north stables. The large courtyard at the center of the "core"
is surrounded by rooms and eyvans on its north, south and east
sides. The rooms are clustered on the east and the eyvans on the
west sides of the courtyard, instead of the alternating ıyvan
and room arrangement of the other two Hans. There are five rooms
and one eyvan on the north and south sides, and three eyvans and
two large corner rooms on the west side.
The flat, earth covered roof of the Han is reached through a
staircase on the entrance corridor. There are two long
galleries on the north and south sides running in the east-west
direction, situated in the level difference between the lower
vaults of the rooms lined on the long sides of the courtyard
and the higher vaults of the stables flanking them.
Although the location of the three caravanserei in relation to
the caravan routes has influenced the size of the building in
general and the capacity of the stables and the rooms in
particular, concentrical planning is common to all the three
Hans with: (1) courtyard, (2) rooms and eyvans, (3) stables and
service spaces, in concentric rings. The open or the closed
courtyard at the center of the "core" is lined with rooms and
eyvans on three sides in Eshab-i Kehf and Mama Hatun Hans and
on two sides in Alara Han. The courtyard is pulled back to the
rear wall in Eshab-i Kehf Han. The stables encircle the core
on three sides in Alara, on two sides in Mama Hatun and on
one-and-a-half sides in Eshab-i Kehf Hans. A service section in
front of the entrance complete the outer circles of the
concentrical plan, in all the three cases.
Another noteworhy feature of there Hans is the differentiation
of the spaces according to their functions, especially in the
living quarters. Devoting a complete section of the Hans to the
travellers and expessing it with the abundance of the number of
rooms is quite a different approach in the planning of a
caravanserai. This special attention becomes even more
accentuated in the separation of the spaces for daily use in the
form of the eyvan and for sleeping in the form of rooms, as is
best illustrated in the case of Alara Han.
The emphasis given to the living quarters in these Hans, has led
Özgüç and Akok, as well as Ünal, to resemble Eshab-i Kehf .and
Mama Hatun Hans to medreses; Kuban thinks that Alara Han could
possibly be a zawiya. Only two other examples with similar plan
type could be traced outside of Anatolia. Tashrabat, on the
road between Kashgar and Narysoje resembles the closed
Danishmendid medreses more than the concentrically planned
Hans, and the 'Ribad in Senchas resembles very much Mama Hatun
Kervansarayı. Diez thinks that Tashrabat is a Nestorian convent
with Buddhist influence in its planning. It is not possible to
arrive at any relevant conclusion on the origin of or the
possible influences on the concentrical plan type since both of
these buildings are undated. However, it can definitely be
stated that the different locations of the Anatolian examples
rule out the possibility of a climatic necessity which would
influence the development of the specific plan type, as claimed
by Erdmann.
Although the question of origin is still open to discussion,
these three caravanserai form a definite group among the
Anatolian Selj.uk Hans with their planning, once more stressing
the fact that the services given by a caravanserai do not depend
on the existence of the "closed" and the "open" sections but on
the organization of the spaces and the expressing of their
functions in architecture. This specific group of Hans also make
it clear that Anatolian Seljuk Hans need a re-classification,
using the "functions" of the building type as the main criteria.
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