karvanlähtö

Karvanlähtö, literally “caravan departure” in Swedish, is a term used to describe the departure of a caravan from a location such as a market, oasis, or caravanserai. The concept is primarily attested in historical, ethnographic, and travel-writing contexts, where caravans composed of people, pack animals, and goods begin a journey along long-distance trade routes.

Practically, a karvanlähtö involved preparations—loading, provisioning, selecting a guide and route, and coordinating with other caravans—followed by the onset of travel. The departure marked the start of a leg in the route, often across deserts or mountains along established caravan routes.

In modern Swedish, karvanlähtö is a specialized term and not common in everyday language; writers may instead use avfärd or avresa. The expression appears most often in historical descriptions, ethnographies of desert trade, and travel literature that discusses caravan networks.

Scholars study karvanlähtö to understand logistical practices, social organization, and the spatial scale of caravan trade along networks such as the Silk Road and the Trans-Saharan routes.

See also: Caravanserai, Silk Road, Trans-Saharan trade, Caravan.