Bukhara and Multani Caravanserais

The Bukhara and Multani caravanserais are two historic merchants' inns in the Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan, standing close together near the Gosha Gala gate within Icheri Sheher. They belong to the period when Baku was a significant stop on trade routes between Central Asia, India, Persia and the Caucasus, and both are generally dated to the 15th to 17th centuries. The Multani Caravanserai, named after the traders from Multan (in present-day Pakistan) who lodged there, is a two-storey building arranged around a rectangular courtyard, with ground-floor storerooms and stables and an upper row of rooms for guests. The Bukhara Caravanserai, associated with traders from the Central Asian city of Bukhara, is also built around an inner courtyard and shares a similar plan, with arcades and simple stone arches. The caravans carried silk, spices, textiles and other goods, and Indian communities, many of them engaged in moneylending and commerce, were a notable presence in Baku and ran business from such inns. Both buildings are constructed of local limestone with thick walls and small windows suited to the climate and to security. The Soviet and post-Soviet periods saw restoration campaigns that stabilised the masonry and adapted the courtyards for modern use as part of the wider Old City conservation, which also underlies the UNESCO listing of 2000. Today, the interiors are not arranged as museums: the Multani caravanserai holds a restaurant, while the Bukhara courtyard has craft stalls and a cafe, so the experience is more atmospheric than curatorial. The buildings offer a sense of the layout of a medieval merchant stop, including the central yard where animals were unloaded and the surrounding galleries. Information is limited to signs and the occasional guide, so the main value for a visitor is the architecture and setting. They are especially pleasant in the evening, when the courtyards are lit and the restaurants are active.