Afghan rug
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An Afghan rug (or Afghan carpet) is a type of handwoven floor-covering textile traditionally made in the northern and western areas of
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, mainly by
Afghan Turkmens Afghan Turkmens or Turkmens of Afghanistan ( fa, ترکمن های افغان, tk, Owgan türkmenleri, ) live in the north-west of Afghanistan along the border with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, surrounded by a larger group of Afghan Uzbeks. The ...
and
Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
.


Types and varieties

One of the most exotic and distinctive of all
oriental rug An oriental rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in " Oriental countries" for home use, local sale, and export. Oriental carpets can be pile woven or flat woven without pile, using v ...
s is the '' Shindand'' or '' Adraskan'' (named after local Afghan towns), woven in the
Herat Province Herat ( Persian: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north-western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...
, in western Afghanistan. Strangely elongated human and animal figures are their signature look. The carpet can be sold across Afghanistan with the most based in
Mazar-e Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...
. Another staple of Afghanistan is Baluchi rugs, most notably Baluchi
prayer rug A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians and some Baha'i during prayer. In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between the ground and the worshipper for cleanliness during the various ...
s. They are made by Afghanistan's
Baloch people The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian peoples, Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afgh ...
in the south-western part of the country. Various vegetable and other
natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archa ...
s are used to produce the rich colors. The rugs are mostly of medium sizes. Many patterns and colors are used, but the traditional and most typical is that of the
octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
al elephant's foot (
Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
) print, often with a red background. The weavers also produce other trappings of the nomadic lifestyle, including tent bags and ceremonial pieces.


Production

In 2021 Afghanistan exported 800,000 square meters of Afghan rug, which generated about $30 million dollars. In 2008, 2013, and 2014 Afghan rugs won international awards at an international exhibition held every year in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It was reported that around 2 million Afghans are involved in the rug business in Afghanistan. Some Afghan rugs are woven by
Afghan refugees Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were compelled to abandon their country as a result of major wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first wave of inter ...
who reside on a temporary basis in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. It has been reported that the majority of Afghan rugs during the war period were sent to Pakistan to be exported, where they were given the label "Made in Pakistan" when they were made in Afghanistan.


See also

*
Culture of Afghanistan The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE, and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly c ...
*
Economy of Afghanistan The economy of Afghanistan is listed as 103rd in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP). With a population of nearly 40 million people, Afghanistan's GDP (PPP) stands at around $77 billion with ...
*
War rugs The war rug ( ''farš jangi'') tradition of Afghanistan has its origins in the decade of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 and has continued through the subsequent military, political and social conflicts. Afghan rug-makers began inco ...
*
Pakistani rug A Pakistani rug ( ur, پاکستانی قالین, translit=Pakistani Qaleen), also known as Pakistani carpet ( ur, پاکستانی فرش, translit=Pakistani Farsh), is a type of handmade floor-covering heavy textile traditionally made in Paki ...


References


External links


Afghan Rug Pop Up Brings Awareness—and Rugs—to the U.S.
(Andrea Lillo, November 4, 2019)
For Kabul’s carpet, antique dealers, a long wait for buyers
(Al Jazeera, September 28, 2021) {{Rugs and carpets