Among travelers, Afghanistan is not very popular and is not strongly associated with any sights or beautiful places. Nevertheless, it was in the desert and mountainous regions of this state and quite by accident, just a few years ago, that ancient fortresses were discovered. The buildings were called caravanserais.
Afghanistan is an ancient country that was once part of Bactria. The first mentions of this state (Afghanistan) are found in the chronicles of the 6th century BC. The following records date back to 330 BC - then part of modern Afghanistan became part of the empire of Alexander the Great. Then these territories belonged to the Greek, Indian, Iranian, Arab, Mongol and British conquerors. Because of such a variety of rulers, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Islam spread at different times on this land. Therefore, there are a large number of various historical monuments on the territory of Afghanistan.
It was possible to find ancient fortresses only thanks to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the American military, which explored the territory of Afghanistan. In total, thanks to the drones, about 4500 different objects of historical heritage were found, including ancient settlements and architectural monuments.
Since it was in these regions of the country that the Great Silk Road once ran, settlements and even palaces could be located here as staging points for merchants. It is these structures that represent the caravans-sarais, of which a total of 119 were found in Afghanistan. The construction of fortresses was carried out in the period from the 16th to the 17th century. They are located at a distance of 20 kilometers from each other - that is how much traders walked in one day.
Every such Afghan caravanserai is the size of a football field. Thanks to such an impressive size, hundreds of travelers with their own transport - camels could easily accommodate here at a time. This section of the route connected India with Persia.
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The walls of the caravanserais were supposed to withstand a short siege, if necessary, and even repel an attack. Most often, these architectural objects were square in shape with an open courtyard and a well located in the middle of the courtyard area. The building contained living rooms, storage facilities for goods and a corral for pack animals. Caravanserais could be either one-story or two-story. Often the caravanserais had a luxurious appearance, but inside there might be practically no utensils. Therefore, the travelers took with them carpets and bedding, food and water - for themselves and the animals. You can also see similar caravanserais in Iran, Azerbaijan, Israel, Armenia, Syria, Bangladesh and even in Russia - in Orenburg.
The process of exploring Afghan soil began quite recently - in 2015. This work was carried out solely thanks to the information received from the military. The research team consisted of American scientists. In their first year of work, the researchers received a grant of $ 2 million from the US government.
Archaeologists and scientists are now unable to investigate the discovered ancient architectural objects. But for now, they are at least included in the registers and are trying to keep them for further research. And at the same time, they continue to survey the territory of Afghanistan in order to find other equally important and interesting historical and cultural objects.