Calormen Outpost, by Gkaida
Cavaransies have existed for thousands of years along trading routes in India, the Middle East, and North Africa. They provided travelers a place to eat, rest, and restock their supplies. Usually they were set at intervals along the road, the spacing calculated by the time spent in a typical day’s travel. Many of them were built like forts, high walls keeping out bandits and such and an open interior to keep animals and warehouse goods. As some caravans could contain up to 500 camels, the size of these places was truly titanic.
Exterior of a large caravansery in India
There were no caravanseries in Calormen’s Great Desert. Lewis tells us there was only a single oasis between Tashbaan and the Archenland mountains, and that was too small to support a large army’s passing. That was why neither Archenland or Narnia were ever invaded by land. But other parts of Calormen were connected by trading roads and the Tisroc likely sponsored traveler’s rests there. One is hinted at in The Horse and His Boy: the city of Azim Balda, situated at a crossroads, where messengers rode out. (Courier services were also a feature of caravanseries.)
In that vein, here’s some caravansary stops with evocative names.
Caravan Stops of Calormen
| Pool of Flying Feathers
Chamna Cistern Nine Palms Oasis Caverns of Ishaq El-Tahyal Caravansery Spring of the Faithful Virgin Tashrani Salt Pans Tower of the Sparrow The Jeweled Oasis Ruins of Saam-Hur Fort Chemandz Lost Lake |
