Research Methodologies

Preparing a Research Report

Topic: A prototype from History, Caravanserais of Cappadocia

i. Abstract
Caravanserais, dating as far as 1500 years ago rose to prominence with the emergence of the Silk route.
Their affiliation as trading points and travel stop-overs makes them bearers of archaic commotion. Being
a favorable subject for many writers and story-tellers, serais become an interesting case study since they
were echoed a context’s socio-economic, political and cultural setups. Their existence as an historical
edifice isn’t bygone with time but harks on contemporary theories of contextual appropriation and
cultural frameworks.
A brief timeline from its conception till its current state will be scripted within this research.
Supplementing the main text will be its (caravanserais) various modifications in areas of Cappadocia,
Turkey depicting how a single typology can variate throughout a region. Acting as an important historic
node, indicators such as user dynamics, geo-strategic locations and cultural strongholds will be accessed
to bifurcate serais as social and political stirrers.
An archeological viewpoint will be considered, undertaking various serais in terms of the visual arts. This
will include allied fields of pottery, metal-work, vernacular construction techniques, crafts and the
inherent material culture. Other disciplines such as economics, politics and social sciences might be
effective in describing how market exchanges were held, what political stances did patrons/ owners,
merchants, traders or local working class had with a single typology. Also, since serais housed bazars,
what importance did crafts held in respect with a region’s texture and heritage. These domains will be
questioned further into formulated research questions, clarifying various layers.
The report shall conclude on factors involving the decline of caravanserais and their current state. The
report aims to generate over-arching themes of economic exchange, social dialogue and cultural relevance
in an age where architecture seems to outdate grounded realities. Therefore, an exploration to derive ideas
from archaic typologies and their consequent implementation in today’s context defines the scope of this
paper.

ii. Defined Terminologies

- History
- Evolution
- Variations
- User Dynamics
- Social-political Roles
- Material and Immaterial Culture
- Decline
- Current state
iii. Multi-disciplinary relation
The research shall account following domains to evaluate how allied disciplines can be connected upon to
reach a conclusive whole.
 - HISTORY- Historical relevance of the Silk road
- GEOGRAPHY- Geographical study of the Cappadocian routes
- ECONOMY- Economic frameworks of Caravanserais
- POLITICS- Patronage and Politics of Serais
- CULTURAL STUDIES- Bazaars and Craft of the ancient Turks
- ARCHAEOLOGY- Archaeological surveys of Turkish Serais
- LITERATURE- Poems, Folklore, Stories on Caravanserais
- ARCHITECTURE- Construction and Materials, Plan types, Mapping, Design strategies
vi. Research Question(s)
Q. What themes can a Caravanserai teach us in the contemporary context?
Q. Can a Serai be implemented today? If so, what would be its manifestation?
v. Scope of the project
The research area will be defined within Cappadocia’s region and focus solely on caravanserais within
this premise. Qualitative data will be the primary agent of data collection, entailing historical documents,
intangible accounts and a humanistic evaluation. A keen focus on economic and political frameworks will
be highlighted, determining user dynamics and architectural bearing. Allied disciplines such as cultural
impacts and social implications will be studied to understand material and immaterial culture and its
varied implications.
vi. Case Studies
The following studies are chosen based on their construction dates, visual vocabulary and utilization:
1. Aksaray Sultanhani- A depiction of royal/ imperial caravanserai
2. Agzikarahan- A depiction of Cultural constructs in terms of visual art
3. Sarihan- A depiction of material palette and current usage
4. Karatayhan- A depiction of ornamentation
vii. Bibliography
- BICIER, KOCATURK (2012)- An examination of the use of caravanserai at Cappadocia on the
silk road; Saruhan Caravanserai
- UNESCO tentative lists- Persian Caravanserai
- JOAN EAHR (2016)- Caravanserais, trade routes and dark mothers
- POLAT. N (2018)- Almatourism, Creating new touristic fashion routes with caravanserais on the
ancient silk road in Turkey
- BLESSING, GOSHGARIAN (2017)- Architecture and Landscape in Medieval Anatolia
- KAYMAKCI (2005)- Geoarchaeological investigation of central Anatolian caravanserais using
GIS