The Seljuk Han of Anatolia

Hans with mosques

Some 16 hans have mosques, mostly in the form of a small room (mescit) which can be located in various areas of the han: on the far side of the courtyard, in, next to or over the entry way (Alara and Sari) , or as a free-standing kiosk in the middle of the courtyard.  When the mosque is above the entrance portal, it is reached by an staircase separate from the one leading to the roof.   Many of the mosques had elaborate entrances, mihrabs, and decorated mukarnas or vaults.  The kiosk mosques of the Ağzikara and Kayseri Sultan Hans are particularly noteworthy.  Not all hans had mosques.

The Seljuks did not place the major emphasis of their architectural building program on mosques, as was the case for the rest of the Islamic world.  Instead, they preferred to place to develop the medrese and the han.  The relatively small number of mosques specifically included in the building program of hans is testament to this policy.

Hans that have mosques are :

• Altinapa

• Kuruçeşme

• Kızılören

• Ertokuş

• Ak (Goncali)

• Kesikköprü

• Sultan Han Aksaray

• Sultan Han Kayseri

• Ağzikara

• Zazadin

• Karatay

• Obruk

• Sari Han

• Işakli

• Şarafşa

• Kargi

• Hekim

• Durak

• Hatun

• Evdir

• Kırkgöz

• Alara

• Esab-I Keyf
  
   

Hans with kiosk mosques:

Sultan Aksaray, 1229	Ağzıkara Han, 1231-37	Sultan Kayseri, 1232-1236	Sahip Ata Han, 1249-50

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