It’s dead, shishla, Charles ... Part II. Indian rugs

Our whole life is a carpet pattern, and one
who invented it, invented everything
what will happen to us ...

Part II Indian rugs
(beginning in number 9 of the "Russian Emirates")

They say that in India, the art of carpet weaving was brought with them by the Persians who fled from their country. The Mughal dynasty made a special contribution to the popularization of carpets in the Subcontinent. A distinctive feature of Indian carpets is the abundance of green, which is almost never found in oriental carpets, although it is considered the sacred color of Islam. Residents of the mountainous regions of India began to weave carpets long before the Muslims arrived in the Subcontinent, so green, often used in Indian carpets, is endowed with some special meaning.

India's most famous rugs come from a mountainous country Kashmir, which for many years has been stubbornly fighting for its independence from both India and Pakistan, but is officially the Indian state. It was the Moguls, for whom the abundance of carpets in the houses was mandatory, chose the capital of Kashmir, the city of Srinagar, as their summer residence, breaking pink gardens with marble pavilions here of amazing beauty. They taught the proud Kashmiris to spin carpets in the Persian style.

Another, no less glorious version tells that the history of Kashmir carpets began with the son of King Skiandar Shah-ha-Khan, who, returning from captivity in Samarkand, brought home with him love for the beautiful carpets of the East. He founded a nursery for breeding silkworm and did his best to get the best Persian craftsmen, who began to teach Kashmiris the wisdom of knotting. For his services, he received the nickname "Agbar from Kashmir" ("The Great Kashmiri").

Be that as it may, the carpets in Kashmir weave excellent: harmonious, flowery and incredibly pleasing to the eye and heart. Often they are sold under the name "srinagara", in honor of the capital of proud Kashmir.

Kashmir masters have an amazing sense of color and mix dozens of shades in their carpets. In ornaments, images of animals and birds are widely used, which make carpets "talking", symbolize the freedom of the soul, thoughts and words. These carpets are called "figurative". Often Kashmiris weave into the pattern and the famous" Turkish cucumbers ", sometimes reaching gigantic proportions.

Any figurine carpet is full of deep meaning. For example, a bird symbolizes a human soul rising to heaven; the running deer is human freedom, and the predator is power, discipline and order. The composition as a whole is full of philosophy - the human soul, reinforced by the power of order, subordinating inner freedom to discipline, ultimately reaches heavenly knowledge.

It is in Kashmir that they make carpets with semiprecious and precious stones. They are weaved only to order, and such a carpet costs a fortune. Sometimes on a "semiprecious" carpet place stones with a total value of several thousand dollars. Of course, they don’t walk on such carpets, but carefully cover tables, shelves and chests with them.

As for India itself, there are still many reserved places where carpet-makers work.

Unique carpets are produced in the town of Mirzapur: their motif called "world-bot"depicts a flame. Such carpets are woven in sects of worshipers of fire, which still exist in India.

The reason that appeared in India "Indo Keshan", "indo kirmans", "Indo-Isfahans"and other pro-Persian rugs, the old caravan road, through which goods from Tehran via Persia and Pakistan, was delivered to India. Local carpet-makers borrowed design motifs from the Persians and began to make carpets that looked no different from Persian counterparts, but significantly inferior in quality .

Production of beautiful carpets with delicate floral patterns, known in the world as "american saruk", was put on stream at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the Europeans hastily founded manufactories in India in order to" saturate "the American market, on the one hand, and to help the Persians cope with a flurry of orders. In the main production centers - Amristar and Agra "There are still a few carpet manufactories. By the way, Agra was once the capital of the Persian kingdom, but carpet weaving here was almost lost after the fall of the Mughal dynasty."

Indian carpets are most often exported: at the beginning of the 21st century, the volume of wholesale sales of carpets abroad exceeded 500 million US dollars.

To be continued.

Anastasia Zorina

Watch the video: I WAS ON DISNEY CHANNEL!! FaZe Rug (March 2024).