Abstract

Somewhere between the study of monumental and household architecture lies an aspect of vernacular architecture that involves the creation of space that is neither solely imperial nor familial in its function and fabrication. Caravanserais are compounds where merchants, pilgrims, scholars and government employees could stop for brief periods of time. Caravanserais provided protection from robbers and weather, water for drinking, bathing and ritual ablution, a place to perform daily prayers, a market place, and in some instances a manufacturing centre. Thus, these vernacular structures are uniquely situated for addressing the creation and formation of public buildings and the interpretation and use of these spaces by the groups who occupied them. This paper introduces research into medieval period caravanserais found in Peshawar city, Pakistan. This research addresses the reinterpretation and reoccupation of space/place; a common occurrence in areas of the world where State organization is both temporally and stratigraphically deep.