Caravanserais were roadside inns that were built along the Silk Road in areas including China, North Africa and the Middle East. They were typically ¹______ outside the walls of a city or village and were usually funded by local governments or ²______.

This word “Caravanserais” is a ³______ of the Persian words “Karvan”, which means a group of travellers or a caravan, and “saray”, a palace or enclosed building. The term caravan was used to ⁴______ groups of people who travelled together across the ancient network for safety reasons, ⁵______ merchants, travellers or pilgrims.

From the 10th century onwards, as merchant and travel routes became more developed, the ⁶______ of caravanserais increased and they served as a safe place for people to rest at night. Travellers on the Silk Road ⁷______ the possibility of being attacked by thieves or being ⁸______ to extreme weather conditions. For this reason, caravanserais were strategically placed ⁹______ they could be reached in a day’s travel time.

Caravanserais served as an informal ¹⁰______ point for the various people who travelled the Silk Road. ¹¹______, these structures became important centers for cultural ¹²______ and interaction, with travellers sharing their cultures, ideas and beliefs, ¹³______ taking knowledge with them, greatly ¹⁴______ the development of several civilisations.

Caravanserais were also an important marketplace for commodities and ¹⁵______ in the trade of goods along the Silk Road. ¹⁶______, it was frequently the first stop for merchants looking to sell their wares and ¹⁷______ supplies for their own journeys. It is ¹⁸______ that around 12,000 to 15,000 caravanserais were built along the Silk Road, ¹⁹______ only about 3,000 are known to remain today, many of which are in ²⁰______.