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they were certain, within a moderate distance, to find one of these 

 buildings appropriated for their accommodation, and were often 

 supplied with the necessaries of life gratis; at least such as sufficed 

 the lower classes of pilgrims. Opulent travellers, as already men- 

 tioned, always carry their comforts and luxuries with them on an 

 eastern journey. 



Those buildings, under the different names of serais, caravan- 

 saries, or choultries, were erected at stated distances throughout 

 the Mogul empire, especially on the patshah, or royal roads. In 

 those provinces which now form part of the Mahratla dominion, 

 many of these structures have been converted into fortresses; others 

 are made storehouses for the grain and hay belonging to the cir- 

 car; a few answer the purpose for which they were intended, but 

 most are in a state of dilapidation. The serais were generally 

 constructed in an oblong square, consisting of a high wall and 

 towers, with a handsome entrance at each end; a few had a gate- 

 way at the cardinal points. The gates were often of considerable 

 strength, with guard-rooms on each side. Two ranges of apart- 

 ments for the convenience of the merchants, containing sleeping 

 rooms and warehouses for their goods, formed a street from one 

 gate to the other; with a colonnade, or veranda, in front of the 

 buildings, opening to a spacious area between them. The serais 

 with four gates contained a double range of these apartments, 

 forming an avenue to each entrance. Under the inner wall of 

 the ramparts were similar accommodations. In the most com- 

 plete and splendid serais a due regard was observed for public 

 worship, ablutions, and other ceremonies; without the eastern gate 

 was generally erected a musjid, or house of prayer, where a 



