A caravan (from Persian: کاروان‎) is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defense against bandits as well as helping to improve economies of scale in trade.

In historical times, caravans connecting East Asia and Europe often carried luxurious and lucrative goods, such as silks or jewelry. Caravans could therefore require considerable investment and were a lucrative target for bandits. The profits from a successfully undertaken journey could be enormous, comparable to the later European spice trade. The luxurious goods brought by caravans attracted many rulers along important trade routes to construct caravanserais, places where caravans could refresh their animals and supplies can be replenished. However, the volume a caravan could transport was limited even by Classical or Medieval standards. For example, a caravan of 500 camels could only transport as much as a third or half of the goods carried by a regular Byzantine merchant sailing ship.

Caravan or caravans may refer to:

Pat Shortt (born 12 December 1966) is an actor, comedian and entertainer. His role in the 2007 film Garage led to him receiving the IFTA for Best Actor.

Shortt starred alongside Jon Kenny in three series of D'Unbelievables: the first, entitled "D'Video", was a live random sketch show; the second, entitled "D'Telly", featured Shortt and Kenny playing various characters (albeit primarily two brothers who run a shop together); the final series, entitled "D'Mother", in which Kenny's character oversaw the running of a public house alongside his "mother" (who was later revealed to be his father, in a role played by Shortt). One character played by Shortt was Dan Clancy, known for telling "his stories". He later appeared as one of the main characters in the spin-off Killinascully.

Shortt played the role of Tom, a crazy man, in Father Ted. His character maintained a unibrow and was attired in a shirt bearing the slogan "I shot JR".

He starred in the 2007 film Garage, directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Shortt won the Best Actor award at the 2008 IFTAs for his performance in this fillum. In 2008, An Post issued a postage stamp featuring Pat Shortt, as Josie, in the film Garage.