caravanserai

Caravanserai – the magazine for RSAA supporters: society updates, members’ news, event reports and themed articles three times a year

Caravanserai is the RSAA’s magazine for its supporters. In every issue readers get society updates, members’ news, and reports on recent society events. Each issue also includes illustrated articles by society supporters and other invited authors on a selected theme – check the individual issues below for details.

Members get Caravanserai in April, August and December. (Not a member? You can join here.) Back copies are available two months after initial publication to anyone on request, either digitally or in print (while stocks last). We do not charge for back copies, but we’d be very grateful if you’d make a donation to help us cover production costs. You can donate any amount or none – we suggest £6. For print copies a charge for postage and packing is made according to destination.

Click on the images below if you would like to get a digital or print issue.

ISSUE 8, Winter 2025 (available from 1 February 2026 to non-members)- For millennia, wildlife has shaped Asia’s identities, economies and belief systems. Rapid development, climate change and shifting land use now strain these ancient relationships. This issue looks at some of the consequences.

  • Tasbaqa: A Story of Resilience from the Ustyurt Plateau – Saxon Bosworth
  • Camelus ferus: Forgotten Species on the Brink – Kate Rae & Dr Anna Jemmett
  • The Vanishing: India’s Wildlife Crisis – Prerna Singh Bindra
  • The New “Little Emperors”: China’s Pet Boom – Sean Paterson
  • The Great Game and the struggle for Horse Power – David Chaffetz
  • The Street Dogs of Istanbul – Dr Kim Fortuny
  • Echoes of the Wild: Asia’s Untamed Landscapes – Sudhir Shivaram

ISSUE 7, Summer 2025 – From the ancient temples of Southeast Asia to the lingering Soviet brutalism of Central Asia, this issue explores Asian architecture’s fusion of past and present, beauty and utility, pragmatism and extravagance.

  • Echoes and Interventions in Filipino Architecture – Ian Fulgar
  • The Timeless Majesty of Japanese Castles – Olivier Robert
  • Gelephu International Airport – Bjarke Ingels Group
  • Stones and Memory – Benjamin Bansal, Elliott Fox & Manuel Oka
  • Zhemchug and the Mahalla – Lucas Fraser-Taliente
  • Soviet Asia – Roberto Conte & Stefano Perego
  • The Silk Road: A Living History Photo Diary – Christopher Wilton-Steer

ISSUE 6, Spring 2025 – To celebrate International Women’s Day 2025 this issue takes Women in Asia as its theme.

  • Female Leaders in Asia
  • The Stateless Diplomat – Mimi Malayan
  • Freedom on the Frontline: Women’s Fight for Liberation – Dr Kina AbiRafeh
  • Remembering Ishimure Michiko – Professor Karen L Thornber
  • Dara Rasami: Bridge Between Two Kingdoms – Dr Leslie Castro-Woodhouse
  • Kim Yo Jong: The World’s Firs Nuclear Despotess – Sung-Yoon Lee
  • Gulaisha and the Women of Karakalpakstan – Annie Liddell
  • Louder than Hearts: A Photo Diary – Rania Matar et al
  • Women and the RSAA

ISSUE 5, Winter 2024 – We look at some of the ways in which languages and scripts contribute to the diversity of Asian cultures and how they are and have been understood by outsiders.

  • Translating the Jadids – Andrew Staniland
  • Invisible Architectures – Claudia de la Garza
  • The Making of Arthur Waley – Professor Timonty Barrett
  • The Power of Multilingualism – Dr Nathan Bedenoch
  • Mongolia’s Many Linguistic Identities – Enkhtuvshin Namsrai
  • The birth of Turkic Literature in Central Asia – Nicholas Kontovas
  • Indonesian Writing Traditions – Herald van der Linde
  • The Art of Arabic Calligraphy – Sir Terence Clark
  • Modern Thai Calligraffitti – Nareadom Phasukdee
  • Picturing the DPRK: A Photo Diary – Glyn Ford

ISSUE 4, Summer 2024 – To mark the 2024 Olympic Games, we looked at sport in Asia.

  • Skiing in the Hindu Kush – James Willcox
  • Cricket: Pakistan’s Lifeblood – Dr Ali Khan
  • Elephan Polo – Lt Col Gerry Birch (retd) with Col James Birch OBE
  • The Rise of Football in Asia – Sarthak Mondal
  • From Buzkashi to Ulak Tartysh – Sophie Ibbottson
  • Sports, Power and State Investment – Eve Collyer Merritt
  • Three Sports: A Photo Diary – Louise Teague
  • Summer Olympics Past and Present: Paris 1924 & Paris 2024
  • Water Skiing in Malaya – Sir Michael Burton

ISSUE 3, Spring 2024 – Rivers are this issue’s theme. They provide food, water, places of settlement, boundaries and connections for peoples, cultures and religions sometimes across vast distances.

  • Sarukawa and Ainu Culture – Professor Hirofumi Kato
  • The Wounded Tigris – Leon McCarron
  • Why the Ganges Must be Saved – Victor Mallett
  • Yamchun fortress – Sophie Ibbottson
  • Oxus Expedition – Sophie Nina Burna-Asefi
  • Three Rivers: A Photo Diary – Louise Teague

ISSUE 2, Winter 2023 – Festivals was the theme of the second issue of Caravanserai. Asia has a lot of festivals. Diwali, Eid, the Chinese New Year, Gion Matsuri, Nowruz, Vel, Buraidah, Thadingyut, Bun Pha Vet and Waisak are just a selection.

  • Harud: the Kashmir Valley – Justine Hardy
  • Shah Abdul Latif – Victoria Schofield
  • Jordanian National Film Festival – Joseph Hearn
  • Sagaalgan: Buryat New Year – Charlie Mackenzie Portlock
  • Festival of Thetford and Punjab – Peter Bance
  • Yemen in 1988: A Photo Diary – Paulette Craxford

ISSUE 1, Summer 2023 – Launched in 2023 and aiming, like the original caravanaserais, to provide news, refreshment and community for RSAA supporters, this first issue includes a selection of articles by members of the society.

  • Basrah Museum – Sir Terence Clark
  • Abu Dhabi Transformation – Brigadier Bill Woodburn
  • Azerbaijani Culture – Dr Carolyn Browne
  • Modern Explorers – Elanor Thorp
  • Mysterious Khevsureti: A Photo Diary – John Romano