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East Persia ( Khorasan ) Mashad, Turkman, Birjand |
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The weaving areas of north, central and south Persia which have been discussed, are bounded in the east by two deserts, the Dasht-e Kavir, the Great Salt Desert, and the Dasht-e Lut, the Lut desert. Both form part of the largest of the regions of Persia, the Ostan Khorasan, of which the capital is Mashad. This large region, uncrossed by rivers, is a parched wilderness, a geologist's paradise, sufficiently unpopulated that even small scale maps will show the tiniest desert village or oasis. A few thousand nomads belonging to many different tribes live in this hostile environment, migrating from oasis to oasis, from water hole to water hole. The nomads possess small flocks of sheep and a few camels and, in the time that can be spared from the constant battle for survival, the women and girls of the tribes weave carpets. Frequently these are works of artistic significance which express yet transcend their primitive lifestyle. These nomad rugs often reach the carpet trade via the small bazaars found in the irrigated oasis-villages of Khorasan. In such places as Tabas or Ferdow the Baluchi will barter their rugs in exchange for the necessities of their daily life. Such pieces are closely related to others which are woven east and south of Mashad and which in the recent past have deservedly gained considerable esteem. The products of Mashad, the capital of Khorasan, in the north east of the country, are important to the history of the Oriental carpet. Here the climatic conditions existed for economic and cultural developments. Agriculture, horticulture, fruit production and stock breeding provided the economic basis of the area, the infrastructure for the small industries and trades, the manifold handicrafts and commercial activities. Politically the region has been one of the storm centers of world history for many hundreds of years. In this volume Khorasan and the province of Baluchestan in the south of Iran are dealt with together since any attempt to distinguish the carpet production of the nomadic tribes of the area is doomed to failure, the migration of a few thousand nomad families having created a fluid frontier.
To emphasize the distinction between Baluch rugs arid the province Baluchestan, which as such has no carpet industry, only Khorasan is
shown on the map as the carpet weaving area of east Persia.
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