Caravanserai at 'Aliabad

 

A small building not recorded by Kleiss was found on my 2017 field trip to the north of the current main road about 40 km to the east of Lar.  Despite its unusual plan, it may perhaps be identified as a travel structure.  Two cisterns are nearby, though many cisterns stand alone along this route, not associated with caravanserais.  Built of well-finished rubble masonry, in the form of a low vaulted hall (2.0m high internally) and three small rooms, the building measures externally 10m x 7m.  The hall is decorated with applied plaster ribs and includes an inscription panel dating the building to 1344/1925-26, illustrated below.  Both the 1942 SoI map (1) and Wilson’s 1907 map (2) mark Aliabad, but only the former marks a “sarai”, which lends credibility to the date.

The significance of this building is that it may offer some clues to dating control.  It shows a form of plaster finish that is seen on several buildings thought to be Qajar in date, a swirling pattern apparently applied with the fingers.  This finish is not seen on any of the buildings dated with any confidence to the Safavid period.  And as noted at Page [24] of the main text, the elaborated rib decoration that is found here in the little vaulted hall may also be a directional indication of a Qajar date.

 

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