Commercial Enterprises in the West of the Islamic World, a case study of Funduk until the 10th century AH.

Trade has been one of the most important parts of people's lives since the past, through which people could satisfy their need for different goods through exchange with each other. In fact, the need for different goods that either did not exist in a land or was very limited opened the way for business trips so that merchants and traders could supply the different goods needed by the people of their cities from other cities and lands. Therefore, the expansion of business trips created the need for different shelters along the way to the destination city; Because merchants and other travelers needed to have a short stay in a place to buy and sell in addition to rest. Funduk was one of these shelters, which is comparable to Khan with some differences, As the Khan was a place for travelers to stay, it also had a commercial function for merchants. Khan could be built both inside the city and outside it on the route of the caravans. While Funduk was a commercial place as well as a residence for merchants and other travelers, which was built inside the cities. This research aims to answer this question by using the available sources, what were the places and functions of Funduk in the west of the Islamic world. It seems that Funduk was more of a commercial house with the possibility of temporary accommodation for merchants and travelers, which was built inside the cities, but the appearance of the building and even its functions were different based on the type of stay of travelers and the existing conditions in each period.