27.08.2022
SULTANHANI H.630-634 / M.1232-1236
It is a work built by Alaeddin Keykubad in the town of Sultanhanı, which he named after Bünyan, on the 40th kilometer of the Kayseri-Sivas road. Alaeddin Keykubad had it built between 630-634 (1232-1236), as can be understood from the ruined inscription on the hall portal. With its massive walls and various fortification towers, the view of the castle dominates the exterior. It was built to cover an area of 3900 m2 on a land that slopes slightly from south to north. The inn is designed as two masses, covering the shelter and service spaces, where the needs of the passenger, cargo and animal trio will be met.
During the Seljuk period, great importance was attached to commercial roads and commercial life. During the reign of Alaeddin Keykubat, the Seljuks had turned Anatolia into a great commercial center to be admired. For example, the tradesmen staying in the Sultanhan would stay at the inn for three days free of charge, and if they were to stay longer than three days, they would pay for the other days. All the goods of the merchants were guaranteed by the state. Han officials would ask everyone if there was an incident before opening the door in the morning, and if there was an incident, they would not let anyone out. The goods of the merchant who came to the inn were carefully counted and if the merchant was to continue on his way in the morning, the goods were delivered to him in full and he was sent off. These caravanserais were also built due to the fact that trade was guaranteed in the form of insuring the goods that we describe as insurance in the world today. In this kind of caravanserais, the development of trade was ensured by providing state assurance to the merchants.
Let's say the merchant took his goods from the inn intact and continued on his way. On the way, the robbers blocked the way of the merchant and stole his property. The state paid for all the goods of the robbed merchant. Because, in the Seljuk state, trade is carried out with state assurance. That's why Anatolia in the period of Alaeddin Keykubat was called "the land of legendary riches".
The building presents the identity of a small castle with its high and distinctive walls supported by buttresses and towers. On the north façade, where the entrance of the caravanserai is located, the buttresses designed in the form of cylindrical cross-section and adjacent bunch pate on both sides of the portal not only support the wall but also form a frame for the courtyard portal, which is largely destroyed today. The towers in the northeast and northwest corners are star-shaped. There are two support buttresses and towers on the side walls of the closed shelter section, one each on the side walls of the courtyard. Except for those on the front façade, it is seen that these supports are designed as polygons and semi-circles, and they are designed as conical circles and covered with a cone. It is noteworthy that these towers rise with stalactites starting at the eaves level. There is a geometric decoration formed by the bands forming circular knots with four-armed star interlacings formed by the interlacing of two strips on the belt that circulates the entire surface of the upper part of the towers in the northeast and northwest corners. In the middle part of the tower in the northwest corner, there is an inscription inside the rectangular cartridge collapsed from the surface, which cannot be read properly because it was destroyed by the melting of the stone. It has been suggested that this name is the architect of the caravanserai, since the text here contains the phrase "amel-i Yadigar(?)".
The caravanserai is entered through the portal, which is shifted slightly to the east of the northern façade and is profiled from the wall surface and placed inwards. The upper part of the pointed arch surrounding the portal, after the stirrup, was completely destroyed. During the repairs made after 1970, the stones of the portal wall were changed to a large extent, and some of the original decorated pieces were left on the wall. The portal is surrounded by three borders of different widths from the sides and from the top. In addition, three borders frame the portal arch. All the borders are embossed with geometric decoration. The portal niche is limited by dice-headed colonnades, which are understood to be decorated from the original. It is understood from the plant-decorated remains on the column head that the corners of the kavsara may have been filled with herbal compositions.
