Mashad
Herat (which today is in Afghanistan) and Mashad have been known as important carpet weaving centers for several hundred years, ranking with Tabriz in the north, Isfahan and Kashan in central Persia, and Kerman and Shiraz in the south of the country. Mashad, and the area under its economic, intellectual and cultural influence, can be seen as a gateway to the east, since it lay on one of the main trade routes from Persia to the oasis towns of east Turkistan and on to China. Nevertheless, the rugs of Herat and Mashad are designed in the distinctive Persian style.

Many of the rugs of Khorasan, particularly those of the Baluch and related tribes, are strongly influenced by the designs and ornaments of the Turkoman tribes, which led a nomadic and semi-nomadic existence in Khorasan as well as to the north (in areas now belonging to the Soviet Union) and in Afghanistan, to the east. The rugs of southern Khorasan, in the areas bordering on Baluchestan, are mainly attributable to the Baluchi.

Very different from these are the artistically highly developed rugs made in the workshops of Mashad and of the surrounding weaving centers under its cultural influence. The Khorasan provenances will be discussed in approximate alphabetical order, i.e. Baluch, Birjand, Dorokhsh, Gombad-i-Qabus, Kashrnar, Koudani, Mashad, Mussabad, Mud and Sabzevar.

History | Designs | Regions | Artists | Glossary

Gallery | Merchants | STORE

 ©2000-2008  Ziba Rayaneh

Best view with IE 5 or later at 800*600 resolution
Last Update  16 May, 2008