| The Art of Carpet Weaving |
I. Basics of a Carpet
Rows of knots are tied on a foundation of warp and weft and become the pile, which consists of upright yarn. The warp runs along the length of the carpet and the fineness of the weave depends on its thickness and the proximity of the warps to one another. When the rug is completed the ends form the fringes, which may be weft-faced, braided or tasseled or secured in some manner.
The wefts pass under and over the warps from one side of the rug to another. They are loosely plied or sometimes untied to allow them to be tightly packed to secure each row of knots.
Weaving normally begins by passing a number of wefts to form a base to work on. The knots are tied around consecutive sets of adjacent warps. The fineness of the weave depends on the density of the knots.
Design
Village or nomadic rugs generally use traditional inherited designs, which are reproduced from memory. These often have totemic or symbolic associations, but in most instances they are mutated forms whose original significance has long been forgotten. Most sophisticated town rugs are curvilinear designs reproduced from paintings and the designs are called by the head weaver.
Looms
Looms don't vary greatly in essential details, although they vary greatly in size and sophistication. The main technical requirement of a loom is to provide the correct tension and means of dividing the warps into alternate sets of leaves.
Looms can be vertical or horizontal. Horizontal looms are generally fairly small - they are often used by nomadic/tribal people and are easier to transport, as they can be assembled and dismantled quite easily.
Vertical looms are undoubtedly more comfy to operate, although they are not transportable and thus, only found amongst sedentary people.
Tools
A number of essential tools are needed to operate the loom:
Knots
There are two basic types of knots, upon which variations are based.
In Pakistan, the Turkish knot is often referred to as the single-knot, whereas the Persian knot is often referred to as the double-knot.
Materials
The warp and weft of a carpet can be various combinations of wool, cotton, silk, and these materials themselves come in various qualities and textures.
Dyes
Until the introduction of chemical callers in the second half of the 19th century, only natural dyestuffs were used, such as the madder and indigo plant, insects, bark, fruit, and other ingenious methods, to produce shades of red and blue. These primary colors could be mixed with other primary colors to produce a wide range of secondary colors
Although natural colors are fast, they do fade in the course of time when exposed to light and alkalis, but this produces a pleasing, harmonious effect which cannot be equaled with chemical colors
Chemical dyes fall into two main groups. One is the acid or analine dye, and the second is the chrome dye. The majority of commercial carpets produced today for the world market are made from chemical dyes, although there has been a resurgence in the last few years in the popularity of vegetable dyes.
II. Brief History of Rug Weaving in the Subcontinent
The Moghul dynasty of the subcontinent was, as the name implies, ruled by emperors proud of their Mongol descent. Babur, the first Moghul Shah from 1526 to 1530, was a fifth generation descendant of Tamerlaine, and was thus related to Ghengis Khan. Formerly ruler of Afghanistan, he overthrew the Delhi Sultanate. Ten years after his death, his son and successor, Humayan, was forced into exile by an Afghan revolt and spent nine years at the Persian court of Shah Tahmasp.
On his return to India in 1549, Humayan brought with him a deep love of Persian art; two of the leading Persian court painters accompanied him to form the the Moghul school of painting, a style which influenced the design of many subcontinent carpets.
It was under Humayan's son Akbar the Great (1556-1606) that the Moghul Empire consolidated its power. Like the early Safavid Shahs of Persia, under whose direction the art of rug weaving was flourishing at the time, Akbar established workshops for the production of carpets. Many of these workshops were set up under the supervision of Persian weavers. Consequently, subcontinent designs were influenced by those of Persia, mainly by the curvilinear designs such as Isfahan. It is even possible that the first Persian weavers who were brought to Lahore came from Isfahan.
It is from the reign of Akbar that historians have gathered the first documentary evidence of carpet production. His chief minister, Abu'l-Fazl (1551-1602) wrote the official history of his master's reign. In this we read that the emperor,
"...has caused carpets to be made of wonderful varieties and charming textures; he has appointed experienced workmen, who have produced many masterpieces. The carpets of Iran and Tukestan are no more thought of, although some merchants still import carpets from Kirman and Sabzwar. All kinds of carpet-weavers have settled here (in the subcontinent), and drive a flourishing trade. These are found in every town, but especially in Agrah, Fathpur, and Lahore."
Carpets produced in the subcontinent continued to flourish over the centuries but they were never truly commercialized until the advent of the East India Company, which opened the door for export to Europe and encouraged carpet weaving as a cottage industry in many different cities of the subcontinent.
At Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the carpet weavers, who were predominantly Muslim, migrated to Lahore. In the confusion and displacement of Partition, the weavers often made their living at various other trades. Some Kashmiri families from Amritsar who had migrated to Lahore began to try to regroup and reorganize the weavers in the following year. This was a difficult task with shortages or non-availability of materials, no committed buyers or local markets for fine quality carpets, nor immediate prospects of financial return on their investments. They weathered various crises and eventually resumed exporting the finished merchandise to Europe.
There are many designs today produced in Pakistan, ranging from the Moghul Kashmir and Persian designs to very fine quality Bokharas. The Moghul carpet designs resemble the Persian, yet they often have thicker textures and prices are less than those of Irani carpets but with a quality that matches and even surpasses the Persian carpets.
Carpets produced in Pakistan today are also often more innovative in design than contemporary Persian carpets. Pakistani manufacturers are always driving demand by introducing new designs or delving deep into the past for antique designs, while at the same time, continuing to produce traditional handmade carpet designs.
Source: Bennet, Ian (editor). Complete Illustrated Rugs and Carpets of the World. Quarto Limited. New York. 1977.