Baluch Rugs

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rom The Horses Mouth-Thomas Cole

--previous article Return to Articles on Baluch Rugs next artic

From the Horses Mouth-Talking 'Baluch' with Jerry Anderson

Original text & photos appeared in HALI76, 1994

e study of so-called Baluch tribal weaving has reached a

atershed. While on the one hand Baluch rugs have cast aside

eir misleading stereotyped image as derivative Turkoman

stard cousins, on the other we still find in the marketplace the

omiscuous use of little understood attributions and terminology

unded upon scholarship that too often fails to rise above the

vel of dogma. Loosely based on the sometimes unreliable

counts written by European travellers in the region during

evious centuries, or drawing on subjective interpretations ofsian myth and ethnohistory, such popular ascriptions are

ldom grounded in properly conducted research or first-hand

perience of eastern Iran and Afghanistan.

During the past two decades a number of well-known tribal ru

writers, dealers and collectors, both American and European

have sought, if not always heeded, the views of a man who h

become something of a legend in his own lifetime. Now 62 an

living in Karachi, Pakistan, Jeremy (Jerry) Wood-Anderson is

his own words, second generation old India born and bred,

grandson of a Scottish officer who served in the last Afghan

campaign. Fluent in several local languages, since the 1950s

Anderson has travelled widely throughout the region, on occaas a zoological surveyor and collector for Western museums

has lived among the tribes in fixed settlements and nomadic

camps in Baluchistan, Sistan, Khorasan and Afghanistan.

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Jerry Anderson

ndersons avowed passionate interest lies in the ethnography

ehind tribal rugs, the ancient ethnogenesis of those great

teppeland nomads who gave rise to the piled rug concept, and

articularly the cosmic symbology of motifs and designs. His

ews of the Baluch pile-weaving tradition, as yet unpublished,

clude some ideas which are simple, others extremely complex,

ith far-reaching implications. His exposure to the conventional

isdom of rug scholarship has been limited, but together with his

eld experience, this very isolation has afforded him a fresh and,

t times, thought-provoking perspective.

ltimately it is on this extensive field experience that his

nowledge of Baluch rugs is based. He has had the opportunity

see certain specific design types associated with specific

ibes, and of purchasing rugs from the families whose women

ad woven them. During his travels Anderson observed old rugs

eing used (or, in the case of treasured heirloom pieces,stored

wooden chests) by the tribal people who offered

him hospitality in their tents and houses as a 'maiman' or

honoured guest. While such observations in the second half o

the 20th century do not necessarily reveal what was being wo

in a particular place at an earlier time, or by whom, they shou

not be discounted. We therefore commissioned contributing

editor Tom Cole to interview Jerry Anderson during a recent t

to Pakistan.

What follows is an abridgement of a wide ranging two-day

discussion that took place in April 1994 at Andersons house

the shore of the Arabian Sea, during the course of which he

offered his attributions, based mainly on aspects of design, fo

number of Baluch rugs published in HALI, as well as in famil

sources such as David Black and Clive Lovelesss Rugs of th

Wandering Baluchi (1976), Michael Craycrafts Belouch Pray

Rugs (1982), and Murray L. Eilands Oriental Rugs from Paci

Collections (1990).



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ALI: What are the origins of the Baluch people of Baluchistan?ERRY ANDERSON: They are Assyrian, of Assyro-Arabic

hnic origin. Their own legends and ballads claim Aleppo in

esent day Syria as their original home. There were two waves

migration, one with the Arab invasion a millennium ago and

nother about five to six hundred years ago. Those who came in

e second wave settled near Zahedan in Persian Baluchistan,

nd their tribal names are derived from the names of the

ountains nearby. Some of them came through into Sind

rovince of what is now Pakistan. Most of this second wave

peak Rakshani Baluch, totally different to Makrani Baluch, the

iginal pure Baluch language. But these people have nothing to

o with weaving rugs.

ALI: Who then are the carpet weavers of Khorasan and

stan?

A: They are of Indo-European origin, all of them. Most of the

digenous peoples of this area do not weave pile rugs, as the

Baluchis of Baluchistan do not. There was a Baluch confederbased upon language, which stretched across Khorasan, thro

Sistan and into trans-Indus Baluchistan. So in a sense the na

Baluch is not a generic misnomer. The political and cultural

centre of this confederacy is located in Sistan, originally refer

to as Sakastan, the land of the Sakas or Scythians. It was the

people, the descendants of the weavers of the Pazyryk, who

populated the area of Sistan. At the time of the Arab invasion

the name was changed to Sijistan (sand country), and from

it eventually evolved, over about a thousand years, into the n

we know today. The weavers of these pile rugs are ethnically

Scythian people. They are not the Baluch. The word Baluch

only about 300 years old and refers only to a linguistic

confederation. The Sistan empire, stretching from Kerman toKarachi, from Sabzevar to the Makran Plateau, was a politica

federation, under the rule of a long line of kings.



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1. Taimuri prayer rug, Ghurian area, west Afghanistan, early 20th century. 1.18 x 1.37m (3'10" x 4'6"). Warp: Z2S, ivory

or mixed ivory and brown wool, on one level; weft: 2Z, brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, with small amounts of silk

and mercerised cotton, AS open right; sides: goat hair selvedge wrapped around paired 4ZS cables; ends: missing;

colours: 7. Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, pl.10. Courtesy David Black & Clive Loveless, London.

ALI: Did your father collect rugs?

A: Not purposely, they were just used in the house. My father

s born in Quetta, his father served in the British Army in the

t Afghan campaign. My grandfather settled in Quetta when he

t the army. So I am very familiar with the territory. I am literally

od brother with the brother of the Brahui chieftain Zaggar

engal. Mengal is the original name of the Brahui Sistanis.

ALI: Doesnt Konieczny mention the Mengal in his Textiles of

luchistan?

A: Mustapha Konieczny was a colleague of mine, a very nice

ow, a doctor of literature whose brother was a rug dealer in

rlin. Like me he was a herpetologist, and we were in constant

mpetition. He used to travel through the desert on camel and

bus, and I used to pass him in my Land Rover. A lovely man.

ALI:But you called his book useless.

A: It is full of nonsensical things, giving functions for some

avings like nose cover and Quran bag! No self respecting

ahui would put his Quran in such a bag. He would use a nice

silk bag with embroidery. Not something like this shepherds b

He would put his rations in this and go into the hills while his g

and sheep grazed. These people are loath to tell the truth to

outsiders. They are masters of disinformation! Poor Konieczn

only spoke Farsi, but the people he was studying spoke Brah

Baluch and some Urdu. He believed them! I tried to tell him. H

was so often wrong, but he only repeated what he was told. A

they lied to him. Constantly!

HALI: Are you familiar with current books on Baluch rugs, su

Jeff Bouchers Baluchi Woven Treasures?

JA: I corresponded with Boucher, but I havent seen the book

gave him many of the tribal names he used. I was also in touc

with McCoy Jones before he died. I was a member of the

International Hajji Babas and they used to send me copies of

they were working on. And also Schuyler Cammann. He hadinteresting ideas on design sources, on cosmic symbology, bu

made far too many mistakes, attributing too much to Chinese

sources when it was the Indo-European steppe people who w

the inspiration for much of the Chinese design pool.



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The Khan of Kalat, with his sons. Baluchistan, 1919 Photo Courtesy of Baloch Circle

ALI: You know Black and Lovelesss Rugs of the Wandering

aluchi. Would you comment on some of the pieces. For

ample what type is plate 10, sometimes referred to as Dokhtar-

Ghazi?

A: Its Taimuri, from Ghurian near the Irano-Afghan border (1),

t the name

commonly misspelt Timuri. And its Dokhtar-e-Qazi, not

hazi, meaning daughter of the judge. There is a beautiful

gend, part of the oral tradition, from the times of Queen Bilkish

Sabzevar, known as the Bahluli-e-Dana. As the story goes,

out 150 years ago the daughter of a Taimuri qazi was wooed

a dervish shaman of the Bahluli tribe. Her father disapproved

d attempted to chase him off with threats of death. So he

rformed all sorts of miracles to impress the qazi and was

owed to marry her. But the Bahluli had their own rug designs,

d those woven by the judges daughter are the only true

okhtar-e-Qazi rugs, twenty-three in all. Her daughters also

ove rugs which may be included in thisgroup, perhaps seventy

ogether. But in the true sense of the word, there are no others

ide from these original pieces which we may call by that name.

he rest are merely Taimuri of Ghurian.

I once had a chance to buy an original Dokhtar-e-Qazi rug. T

was a guy named Gordon Tiger with the American Consulate

Karachi in about 1971. He took it out from under my nose in

Quetta. It was being repaired. I had reserved it, offered to pay

advance. The rafurgari in the Suraj Gunj bazaar assured me

nothing to worry about, the work would be done and I could p

up in the morning. In the meantime, the owner leaves and his

servant is there and in walks Tiger, asks how much, and

purchases it from the boy. I was so upset. Since then Ive see

two cushions (balisht) and a saddlebag that I thought were al

woven by the daughter of the judge

.

The principal motif on the rugs is the mirah boteh design. It lo

like a Christmas tree with a bent over paisley design. It has a

bottom to it. So many of the boteh designs on these rugs hav

bottom which resembles an arrow head. That is not the desig

the original rugs. Those with the arrow head bottoms I assoc

more closely with the Taimuri of Ghurian rugs, a group which

predates the Dokhtar-e-Qazi rugs.



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2. Salar Khani rug, north Sistan, early 20th century. 1.12 x 1.85m (3'8" x 6'1"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, on one level;

weft: 2Z, green-brown and brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool with traces of magenta silk and blue, white andyellow cotton, AS open left; sides: 6 cables (Z2S)2Z overcast with goat hair; ends: traces of plain tapestry; colours: 7.

Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, pl.25. Courtesy David Black & Clive Loveless, London.

ALI: Who are the Bahluli?

A: The Bahluli have an interesting history. They are descended

om the Afsar, not Afshar as we mistakenly refer to them.

round the 11th to 12th century, the Afsar and the Arsari (Ersari)

plit and the Afsar came into Afghanistan. Soon after, the bulk of

e Afsar moved into the Kerman region of Iran. One group, the

tajlu, remained in Afghanistan, and it is from them that the

ahluli are descended. They are part of the Baluch confederation

nd adherents to Sistani culture. They always weave using theymmetric knot. They are the ones who weave the true, small

urial rugs, called kaffani. These are more elongated than the

verage prayer rug, and usually not as wide, with opposing

ches that resemble those on prayer rugs.

HALI: And the Mushwani?

JA: They are the Sarabani Mushwani, a huge group who cam

from Caucasia after the fall of Khazar, a Turkic state which

converted to Judaism. The Sarabani left after the Swedish

Vikings ransacked that area. They escaped into what is know

today as Afghanistan. Now the Mushwani are just one subgro

of the Sarabani. They are located in various places. There ar

some near Quetta and some in southeast Afghanistan. There

even some in the vicinity of Islamabad here in Pakistan.Depending on where they are located they speak different

languages, including Farsi, Pushto, Brahui and Rakshani Bal

But the rug weaving groups called Mushwani are located nea

Adraskand in western Afghanistan and in Sistan.



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3. Shahraki Sarbandi rug, Sistan, late 19th century. 1.07 x 2.18m (3'6" x 7'2"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, alternate warps

slightly depressed; weft: 2Z, brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, AS open left; sides: missing; ends: traces of plainand weft-float tapestry weave; colours: 8. Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, pl.37. Courtesy David Black & Clive

Loveless, London.

ALI: What about plate 37 in Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi?

ome people call this type Mushwani.

A: This is a Sharakhi, one of the twin tribes of the Sarbandi

om Sistan (3). Today all the cloth weavers in Zabol are

harakhis.

ALI: It has been suggested that this group of rugs was woven

y Hazaras near Bala Murghab in northwest Afghanistan.

A: How can anyone say that? Did the person ever go toghanistan?

ALI: Did the tribes copy designs from one another?

A: Not until recently, never. Copy artists in the Baluch

onfederation began to work after about 1945. Up until 1940 or

o, the traditional system of tribal identity among the Baluch

bes in Sistan, Khorasan and Afghanistan remained intact. Of

ourse intertribal marriages did occur, and a blend of design and

yles naturally ensued. The woman would weave her tribes or

ans border design around her husbands tribes

field design. Among adherents, defeated clans or tribes who

adhered to a dominant tribe, weavers would put their border

around the field design of the dominant tribe.

The Shia Hazaras were copy artists, or they wove rugs for sa

on a commission basis, principally in the Mashad area, includ

those red prayer rugs with the hands in the hand panels. But

Afghanistan they do not weave pile rugs. Some Hazaras wer

employed around Herat as copy artists in workshops. The sais true of the Jamshidi and Firozkohi, who were only copy art

in workshops and did not traditionally weave pile rugs. Now t

Hazaras also inhabit other parts of Afghanistan, including cen

Afghanistan, ranging all the way down almost to Kandahar, a

also the mountains near Ghor. There they do weave beautifu

jagged kilims, blankets with lightning-like designs, but not pile

rugs. The Hazara are a beautiful people, whose social group

dominated by their womenfolk. It is very difficult to get into th

areas. In 1968 or 69 I tried to get in there, about sixty miles

southwest of Kabul, in my Land Rover, but I was stopped by

Amazons with rifles.



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Huts composed of reeds, a common material used throughout Seistan in SE Persia. The reeds are taken from local lakes.

ALI: Who are the Taimani and do they weave piled rugs?

A: The Taimani are a totally different people. Taimani is a very

d name and they are a proud ancient nomadic tribe. I think they

ove all the way down to Farah and Chakhansur. I dont think of

em as an integral element of the Chahar Aimaq confederation.

hey weave those very large pushtis (chuval-like bags for

orage and transport) with large-scale designs that one sees in

fghanistan. Woven in pairs, many of them are cut and

eparated, then they are mistaken for rugs. Ive seen them

ublished as rugs in some of these magazines.

ALI: Some people call this type of rug, from an American

ollection, Taimani?

A: I think this is Sarbandi (20). Some of these tribal people live

fixed settlements, others of the same tribe are nomadic. There

a fixed settlement of these people in Zabol itself and they

ake beautiful rugs which are very different to these other ones.

his rug probably comes from Afghan Sistan, from the

hakhansur region, Nimruz.

HALI: What kind of rug is Black & Lovelesss plate 30? Micha

Craycraft calls the type Karai. Certainly they are a specific gr

defined by depressed warps and four cord selvedges in additi

to the frequent use of the mina khani design.

JA: Wasnt this one of Ian Bennetts rugs? It is Jehan Begi, on

hundred per cent Jehan Begi (6).

HALI: And Black & Lovelesss plate 25?

JA: Salar Khani from northern Sistan (2).

HALI: To what extent have you been concerned with structurthe years you have been interested in rugs?

JA: Ive tried to be. Ive at least noticed structure, but have ne

thought of it as the only criterion as to who made a rug. You h

to understand, I have been all over the tribal areas in Khorasa

Sistan, Baluchistan, Afghanistan. I speak some of these

languages, including Brahui, Baluch and Urdu. I dont speak F



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5. Salar Khani/Jehan Begi carpet, Torbat-e-Heydariyeh area,

Khorasan, first half 19th century. 1.09 x 2.18m (3'7" x 7'2").Warp: Z2S, white wool, on one level; weft: 2Z, brown wool, 2

shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, AS open left; sides & ends: missing;

colours: 8. Black & Loveless, Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi,

pl.39. Private collection, UK.

ALI: What about Black & Lovelesss plate 3?

A:Another Jehan Begi (7). I believe it might have had a

nerary function, to be placed over the bier a kaffani.

ALI: And plate 39?

A:Again, wasnt this Ian Bennetts rug? It is a hybrid Salar

hani/Jehan Begi from the Torbat-e-Heydariyeh area (5

). It wasoven by a Salar Khani woman married to a Jehan Begi man.

s a wonderful rug, and very old. Notice the cocks comb, Herati-

yle, border; this is a Salar Khani motif, the Jehan Begi never do

s on their own.

ALI: What of this opposing niche prayer rug which was

ustrated in HALI 54, attributed to the Quchan Kurds, and later

ld as an Aimaq at auction?

A: I think it may have been made by a Bahluli woman who

arried a Mushwani (9). It is a burial rug. I believe all piled rugs

we their origins to their sacred function as a burial shroud with

ar map designs to guide the departed soul to heaven.

radually, over centuries, the by-products of this tradition began

HALI: Who are the Aimaq tribe, as opposed to the tribes of t

Chahar Aimaq?

JA: They are a division of the Hazaras, or at least a people

related to the Hazara groups. They are called Chengezi Mon

and still speak a Mongol language. There are deposits of the

northern Afghanistan as well as near Haripur on the east ban

the Indus River. Those in the Indus Valley are Sunni as far aknow. They only make flatweaves.

HALI: What function do prayer rugs serve in the context of

Baluch weaving? Are they a traditional art form?

JA: The mihrab form is Zoroastrian, not Islamic. The word

literally means sun-water in other words the life-giving ray

the sun. The so-called tree-of-life we see on so many Baluch

prayer rugs is not a tree at all. It is a representation of the ray

the sun, a central part of the Zoroastrian tradition. Fire temple

used to have splayed bulls horns mounted on their spires, a

this symbol appears in some prayer rugs, particularly those f

Sabzevar and Adraskand, as well as Turkestan. The Sistanis



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eing produced in every imaginable and functional form to which,

ese days, there is virtually no end! Witness bicycle seat covers

nd the like.

were the last to be fully converted to Islam and the Baluch an

Brahui tribal structure is so strong that these latter groups rem

less religious than others such as the Turkoman and Pashtu

6. Jehan Begi rug, Khorasan, late 19th century. 1.00 x 2.20m (3'3" x 7'3"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, alternate warps

deeply depressed; weft: 2Z and 4Z, brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool and goat hair,AS open left, some SY

knots at edges; sides: 4 6ZS cables wrapped with goat hair; ends: plain, interlocked and weft-float tapestry andbrocade; colours: 8. Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, pl.30. Courtesy David Black & Clive Loveless, London

ALI: What is plate 28 in Michael Craycrafts Belouch Prayer

ugs?

A: Perhaps Bahluli, and also in the burial format (11). Im

oking for loops or tufts in the corners, which they used to fasten

e rug to the bier, which had four legs, something like a

harpoy. A very interesting rug, very beautiful.

HALI: What do you make of no.4 in the Baluch poll, publishe

HALI 59? Jeff Boucher has referred to this type as Baizidi,

Michael Craycraft tentatively calls it a Kizil Bash Turkoman.

JA: It appears to have been made by a Jehan Begi woman

married to a Salar Khani man (10). This central field is classi

Salar Khani. There is nothing Baizidi about it at all the Baizi

are only copy artists.



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7. Jehan Begi funerary (?) rug, Khorasan, 20th century. 0.80 x 1.55m (2'7" x 5'1"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, alternate warps

deeply depressed; weft: 2Z, natural brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool and camel (?) hair, some faded violet silk, AS

open left; sides: 4 cables (Z2S)4Z individually wrapped with goat hair; ends: plain and slit-tapestry, weft float brocade;

colours: 6. Rugs of the Wandering Baluchi, pl.3. Courtesy David Black & Clive Loveless, London.

ALI: Look at these Anne Halley Collection rugs in the Baluch

ection of Murray Eilands 1990 catalogue Oriental Rugs fromacific Collections, which includes some very specific

tributions, labelled challenging by the editors of HALI.

A: Plate 93 (Torbat-e-Haidari, possibly Karai) looks like a

ehan Begi (21). Plate 95 (Arab, probably Qainat, Iran) is Arab

aluch (15) Miri Arabs who settled in Sistan at the time of the

rab invasions. There is no question of Arabs in Firdows

eaving rugs of this type. Those Arabs, and those in the Tun

ea, do not weave Baluch type rugs. They are copy artists who

eave Persian type rugs. The Arabs in Qain are Miris and weave

ese Baluch style rugs.

ate 96 (Mahlavat or possibly Turshiz) is Salar Khani, I think

4). It could be from Turshiz. This design type is rare; one

eaver in a hundred will make such a rug in a lifetime. Plate 99Baluchi type, Turkic tribes) is very strange (13).

These piled ends are very peculiar. It might also be a kaffani.

is symmetrically knotted it must be Bahluli, possibly from theAdraskand Valley. A very rare rug.

Plate 98 is a Taimuri from Khorasan (22). What has he writte

here, possibly Jamshidi? Traditionally the Jamshidi dont we

knotted rugs in their tents. They weave Baluch rugs and

Turkoman rugs commercially in workshops in Herat. Both the

Jamshidi and the Firozkohi originally came from the Elburz

Mountains in Iran, but they were forced to leave Persia due to

their different religious beliefs. They believe that their messia

fled into the mountains long ago and will return. They are

classiffied as Sunnis but they are actually Shiite. They neede

place to go where they would be free to worship. The word

Firozkohi means blue mountains, Firoz is the word for turquo

and kohi is mountain.



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Baluch nomad caravan in Baluchistan (SW Pakistan)

ALI: Have you visited their camps?

A: Yes. Its a dead end road to get there, you have to turn back

nce you reach them, they are at the end of the line. There were

o pile weavings in their tents. Some of them lived in yurts like

e Turkoman, most of them lived in huts like the Hazaras of the

ea. Some of the tribe tended flocks and moved with their

erds, but they were essentially an extension of a fixed

ttlement, some of whom also engaged in sparse agriculture

e the Jamshidi.

HALI: What do you think of Eilands plate 97 (Aimaq or Balu

JA: This is a very interesting rug (25). Its a Rukshan Baluch

carpet, from the area of Nushki. It was made by the Baddini.

are an ancient tribe, mentioned by Herodotus in the 6th centu

BC as being a Scythian royal tribe. These people make salt b

and saddle bags, flatweaves. They do not weave many knott

rugs. Its a very rare thing.



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9. Bahluli/Mushwani (?) funerary (?) rug, Afghan Sistan, mid 19th century. 0.95 x 1.68m (3'1" x 5'6"). Warp: Z2S, ivory

wool; weft: 2Z, natural brown wool, 3 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, SY, 6H x 7V = 42/in2 (650/dm2); sides: 3 cords wrapped withnatural brown wool; ends: missing; colours: 12. Private collection USA, courtesy Skinner, Bolton, Massachusetts.

ALI: But we thought that no piled weavings were made in

luchistan.

A: Rukshan, which is today referred to as the Chagai District of

luchistan, was the easternmost part of Sistan and was only

nexed by the British in the late 19th century.

ALI: How do you account for the use in this region of a design

ich most of us would associate with the Turkomans or the

beks?

A: There is nothing Turkoman about this design. You mustderstand that Sistani culture is basically the same as that of

e Turkomans. So why is it unusual to see this design on this

ry rare, very beautiful, rug?

Had it not had this kilim end, it would have bamboozled me. Its

is typical of weavings from the Nushki area. Their houses are

elongated mud dwellings that you have to step down into.

HALI: And this one, plate 8 (Aimaq) from the Baluch poll art

JA: The format is pure Salar Khani (27), typical for this group.

HALI: What do you think of this prayer rug from an American

private collection?

JA: Very unusual, must be a Sharakhi from Sistan (

17).



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10. Jehan Begi/Salar Khani khorjin face, Khorasan, second half 19th

century. 0.79 x 0.81m (2'7" x 2'8"). Baluch Perspectives, HALI 59, p.115,

attributed to the Kizil Bash Turkoman, Mahavalat region, subsequently

reassigned to possibly Bayat, Nishapur or Turshiz district. Anne Halley

Collection, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California

ALI: And no.30(Turkestan, Timuri-Belouch) from Belouch

ayer Rugs?A: Looks like a Kurd, certainly is not a Taimuri (18). The

nermost border is a Sangchuli idea. The camel wool is undyed,

ut the Sistanis always dye theirs. This rug is made by some

py artist, some Kurdish group. And this one, no.28, is from the

orbat-e-Heydariyeh area, not Turkestan (23). Possibly Jehan

egi, they do use that design. And no.22appears to be

angchuli, a very nice example from Zabol (19).

ALI: And no.2 in the HALI Baluch poll article?

A: Arab, just like he says, but from Firdows (26). Im sure it is

woven on a cotton foundation. Its more Baluch than most rug

from Firdows. As I said before, they are usually a Persian typrug. What is this about a woven date here? I really doubt it f

start most Baluch have no concern for dates and when they d

the inscribed dates in what are normally workshop rugs are

usually placed in or near a corner, not floating freely in the fie

used to buy fragments of rugs which had woven dates, just to

some idea of how to date rugs in general. I had a whole collec

of Turkoman and some Baluch fragmented prayer rugs with d

But theyre all gone now.



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11. Bahluli (?) burial (?) rug, Sistan, late 19th century. 0.66 x 1.32m (2'2" x 4'4"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, alternate warps

deeply depressed; weft: 2Z, olive green wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, AS open left, 9H x 11V = 99/in2 (1,535/dm2); sides:

2 cords of 2 cables of Z5S goat hair, each pair overwrapped with goat hair in figure-8; ends: bands of plain tapestry;

colours: 12. Belouch Prayer Rugs, pl.26, attributed to Farah or Zurabad. Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo,

California.

ALI: Can you comment on the omnipresent mina khani design.

occurs in so many different places. Is it a tribal design which

oved to the towns or vice versa?

A: Definitely from the tribes to the cities. It pops up in

eographically disparate regions because it is basically Indo-

uropean, and the weavers of all these rugs are descended from

e same original Indo-European tribes. Many people might

gue with the theory of diffusion, but with the question of

arpets, it is all true. It all fanned out from Balkashia to various

cales in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Khorasan, Persia and

natolia.

HALI: What accounts for Seljuk iconography on so-called

Baluch rugs?

JA:Are you following what I am saying? They are the same

people. Whats the big surprise? It is the dissemination of a s

culture, from the Lake Balkashia region, and eventually to Sis

Why not a continuation of design? In that vein, the Persian w

for carpet is ghaleen, derived from the ancient Indo-Europea

word gaalee, which means language! The carpet was an anc

representational form of language, of religious significance,

depicting the cosmic symbology.



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8. Village near Zabol, Sistan.

ALI: Why is the wool in Baluch rugs so soft and shiny?

A: They use lambs wool, and the wool from the throat and

lly, the best wool on the animal. The animal is unwashed ande wool therefore retains all the lanolin, the wool has so much

tural oil.

ALI: Did the Baluch weave dowry pieces?

A:Yes, the bride made all these things herself, receiving no

lp from other women in the household. These dowry rugs

nsisted of a 4' x 6' rug, a prayer rug, a pair of balisht, khorjin

addle bags), a salt bag and a shepherds bag (showandan)

e dastarkhan or sofreh were woven by married women, as

ere many other functional pieces. Khorjin (donkey bags) are

so made for dowry. Sistani khorjin have a piled shoulder on

th sides, while those from Afghanistan are open across the

ddle, plain flatweave with no piled shoulder connecting the twogs.

ALI: What accounts for the dark, sombre tonality of Baluch

oup rugs?

JA: Maturity. Sistan had a very developed culture. The Turko

used to be like that, but then they began raiding northern Iran

rampaging, pillaging and looting, showing off. Thus they madthese strongly coloured rugs. The redder the better, very

immature.The Baluch, who live in the desert, like the darker

colours, and of course the dyestuffs available to them yielded

those shades. There were exceptions among the groups loca

further north where Turkoman influence was greater, thus the

rugs are sometimes redder, as in the Salar Khani rugs of nor

Khorasan.

HALI: Some Baluch rugs have very coarse goat hair selved

others dont. Why this disparity in rugs that essentially come

the same culture?

JA: The goat hair acts as a shield against snakes. They will

cross it as it is like barbed wire on their skin. Therefore rugs in a nomadic context will always have the coarse goat hair

selvedges, while those used in a sedentary environment will

usually have wool selvedges.



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16. Anderson the herpetologist demonstrates how a snake will not cross a

cord made of goat hair.

ALI: We have heard that during the recent troubles the Baluch

eoples in northern Afghanistan were either killed or driven out

y the local population, who resented them. Who are they?

A: They are a mixture of Baluch and Arabs, and also Lokharis,

ho do not weave piled rugs but instead make those dark, dark

lims which often have tufts of wool inserted on the flatweave,

nd are woven in two pieces and joined in the centre. There are

so Brahuis in that area who are called Baluch. There is a book

written by a Russian that tells of the whole distribution of the

Brahuis in Khorasan, Transcaspia, the Bukhara area and the

Mazar-i-Sharif area. So many different peoples are called Ba

or call themselves Baluch. In Farsi, the word means beggar.

also has the sense of nakedness, a person living in a tent an

clothed in rags. Now the word -luch means a parasitic type of

person. Ba means from or of, so the name Baluch has bad

connotations in Farsi



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13. Bahluli funerary (?) rug, possibly Adraskand Valley, west Afghanistan, second half 19th century. 0.94 x 1.52m

(3'1" x 5'0"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, slightly depressed; weft: olive green and dark brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2ZSwool, SY, 9H x 9V = 81/in2 (1,255/dm2); sides: 1 cord over-cast with goat hair; ends: bands of weft-faced plainweave

at bottom; colours: 15. Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, pl.99, attributed as Baluchi type, subsequently

reassigned to Aimaq, Ghurian. Anne Halley Collection, Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.

ALI: The names you use for the weavers of Baluch rugs, Salar

ani, Jehan Begi, for instance, where do they come from?

A: The original rug weaving tribes of Sistan are the Dobash

n tribes of the Joteg and Sangchuli, the Khakka religious clan,

e Kamali and Jamali (these two weave only kilims), the Mengal

anjarani Barohis and Sasoli Narohis. (Narohi means people

m the plains, Barohi is the opposite, people of the hills.) From

ese groups came all the splinter groups or sub-

tribes and clans of the Jehan Begi, Jehan Mirzai, Ali Mirzai, A

Akbar Khani, Khurkheli, Salar Khani, Yaqub Khani, Madat Kh

Rahim Khani, etc. The Sarbandi, Sharakhi and Sarabani

Mushwani are later additions to Sistani culture, adherents wh

weave knotted rugs. But the Karait Nakabundi tribe of Turko-

Mongol origins (the Karai) do not weave pile rugs at all. They

proud people and want nothing to do with the other tribes and

groups who do weave pile rugs.



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4. Salar Khani (?) rug, Khorasan, late 19th century. 0.89 x 1.52m (2'11"5'0"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool, moderately depressed; weft: olive grey

ool, natural camel hair, dark brown goat hair, 2 shoots; knot: 2ZS wool,

S open left; sides: 2 cords overcast infigure-8 with goat hair; ends:

ands of weft-faced plainweave, weft substitution, double interlocking

nd slit-tapestry; colours: 8. Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific

ollections, pl.96, attributed to Mahvalat or possibly Turshiz,

ubsequently reassigned to Kizil Bash Turkoman, possibly Bayat,

ishapur. Anne Halley Collection, Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San

nselmo, California.

15. Miri Arab rug, Sistan, second half 19th century. 0.84 x 1.37m (2x 4'6"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool; weft: 2ZS, 2 shoots; knot: Z3 and Z4

wool, with some magenta silk, AS open right; sides: natural ivory wo

cables overcast with goat hair; ends: bands of plain tapestry; colou

Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, pl.95, attributed to A

Baluchi, probably from the Qainat, Iran. Anne Halley Collection,

Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.

he Bahluli are another relatively large adherent group to Sistani

lture. They are very easy-going people very gentle, veryeral in a sense. And certainly not very religious. Ive never

en a Bahluli pray. The Sarbandis and Sharakhis are very

rogant, closed minded people, proud also, but respected. I

ught one of the best rugs I ever had from a Sarbandi.

Sistani tribal lifestyle was essentially intact until about 1980,

nomads moving around in the same locales as they had forcenturies. But then the Sarbandi and many other Sistanis wer

displaced during the Islamic Revolution. Before 1979, they we

not here in Pakistan and these weavings, salt bags, shepherd

bags and the like, were just not available.



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17.Shahraki Sarbandi prayer rug, Sistan, late 19th century. 0.74 x 1.07m (2'5" x 3'6"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool; weft:

natural brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2Z, wool, AS open right, 9H x 8V = 72/in2 (1,116/dm2); sides: not original:ends: weft-float kilim at top, weft-faced plainweave at bottom; colours: 11. Private collection, USA.

e Sarbandi and Sharakhi rarely sold such salt bags and rugs

fore these were dowry items, not for sale at any price! But

en they were forced out of Sistan, they had no choice but to

l, and that is why you find them in the marketplaces Quetta,

Karachi, the markets were flooded with all sorts of weavings fr

these Sistan groups. They are a very nationalistic people, the

Sistanis, and when they left Iran, most of them settled near Nu



21/30


18. Kurdish (?) prayer rug, north east Iran, 19th century. 0.67 x 0.99m (2'3" x

3'3"). Warp: Z2S, natural ivory wool, slightly depressed; weft: natural brownwool, 2 shoots, loosely packed; knot: wool, AS open left, 10H x 12V = 120/in2

1,860/dm2); sides: 2 cords 3Z(Z2S) ivory wool overwrapped in figure-8 with

continuous wefts and overcast in wool chequerboard pattern; ends: weft-float

and dovetail tapestry at top, similar plus stepped discontinuous weft-float and

slit-tapestry at bottom; colours: 8. Belouch Prayer Rugs, pl.30, attributed to

Turkestan, Timuri Baluch, subsequently reattributed to Jamshidi, Pende.

Private collection USA, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.

19. Sangchuli prayer rug, Zabol area, Sistan, late 19th cent

0.84 x 1.57m (2'9" x 5'2"). Warp: Z2S, natural ivory wool,slightly depressed; weft: natural brown and dark brown woo

and camel hair, 2 shoots; knot: wool, AS open right, 10H x 1

= 110/in2 (1,705/dm2); sides: 2 cords 3Z(Z2S) and 4Z(Z2S)

ivory wool overcast in alternate lines of natural brown and p

red wool; ends: missing; colours: 7. Belouch Prayer Rugs,

pl.22, attributed to Herat, subsequently reattributed to

Hazara, Murghab. Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo

California.

he Sasouli and the Sanjaranis are very hospitable people. If

ou get into their clutches, you cannot continue on your safari.

hey will keep you. I used to travel throughout these areas byand Rover in my work as a herpetologist. I would sometimes

stop for water and they would insist on throwing their hospital

upon you. They would lay out all the carpets, give you this and

that, and you were stuck! For at least 24 hours! Wonderful pereally.



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20.'Baluch' carpet, probably Sarbandi tribe. Chakhansur, Minroz area, Afghan Sistan, mid(?) 19th century,

1.57 x 2.64m (5'2" x 8'8"). According to Jerry Anderson, rugs of this type, sometimes attributed to the

Taimani in the literature, are the work o fthe Sarbandi tribe of the Sistan region, which straddles teh modern

Iranian/Afghan border. Warps: Z2S, ivory wool; Weft:2Z, light brown wool, 2 shoots; Knot:2Z, wool, AS open

left, 6H x 7V=42/in2 (650/dm2); Sides: traces of 3-cord ivory wool overcast with light aubergine wool; Ends:

plain weft faced flatweave; Colours 9. Private Collection, USA

ginal text & photos appeared in HALI 76, 1994

text edited and prepared by Tom Cole based upon tape recorded conversations w/ Jerry Anderson, 2003

parts of this text or any photo may be re-produced, transmitted or copied by electronic means or otherwise without permission fro

hor.

The Story Is Free

By Andrew Hale

Original text & photos appeared in HALI76, 1994

http://www.hali.com/http://www.hali.com/


23/30


Another Westerner with ample experience of recent Baluch weaving is Andy Hale,

now a specialist dealer in Central Asian textiles and jewellery. The following

comments in response to HALIs interview with Jerry Anderson, are based on his

own direct experience in Afghanistan during the 1970s.

he Anderson interview brought back many memories of the

azaars and deserts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. When I first

ent to Afghanistan in 1972 I was already a rug expert. I had

ad two or three books and been to half a dozen rug shops and

uctions. I knew that any rug that wasnt obviously Turkoman

as certainly called Baluch and that any Turkoman rug withoutls was called a Beshir.

om 1973 onwards, I spent increasingly longer periods in

ghanistan between 1975 and 1980 I was there for all but six

onths. I havent been back to Kabul since 1992, but I still make

ree trips to Pakistan each year. Over twenty years later it

eems like a long slide from the certainty of my youth to the

ague ideas I have today on carpet identification. But I have

ome by my uncertainty with great effort. It didnt take long to

ure out that rug books presented a rather simplified version of

e complex Central Asian textile world, and that most

shopkeepers in Kabul had little interest in the tribal or ethnic

origins of what they sold.

Some of my best information came from simply standing in fro

of Noori Shers shop in Kabul and asking villagers about the r

they had brought to sell. Few people wanted to discuss themeaning of designs, and they seemed most unreliable on the

of their rugs. But I was usually able to get a village or tribal na

from them. Noori Shers front stoop was the first place that I h

names like Aimaq, Arab, Lokhari, Taimani, Timuri, Mushwani

more.

But I was not travelling around the desert visiting nomad cam

My informants did not weave the rugs, which came second an

third hand to the bazaar. Anyway, I was interested in older pie

whose weavers were long dead. In the end, I learned as muc

from reliable shopkeepers who were themselves from outside

Kabul and ran specialist shops bringing in material from their

home provinces of Herat and Andkhui.



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21. Jehan Begi rug, Khorasan, second half 19th century. 1.12 x 1.88m (3'8" x 6'2"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool with a few strands of

camel and brown wool, alternate warps depressed; weft: 2Z, pale olive and natural brown, goat hair, 2 shoots; knot: 3-4Z, wool, AS

open left, 8H x 10V = 80/in2 (1,240/dm2); sides: 4 cords overcast with goat hair in figure-8; ends: bands of weft-faced plainweave

with some slit-tapestry, interlocking weave and weft substitution; colours: 10. Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, pl.93,

attributed to Torbat-e-Haidari region, possibly Karai. Anne Halley Collection, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.

only I had done this for a few months and gone home! Then I

ould have been the kind or person who could speak with

ertainty. But the longer I stayed, the less consistent the answers

ecame. Yesterdays Aimaq could be todays Taimani. I mention

l this as a way of explaining how very difficult it is to get a clear

nderstanding of rug weaving in Afghanistan. There are still

enty of real Turkoman and Baluch to talk to and real work to

e done, perhaps by Western women with language skills.

Weaving is part of the womens world and men will always be

utsiders.

There are a few Westerners with real in-depth knowledge of

Baluch rugs. Jerry Anderson appears to be one of them and

experience is much richer than mine.

In my experience, however, most so-called Baluch rugs are Baluch at all. If a Baluch is someone whose mother tongue is

Baluchi, then most of these rugs seem to be woven by non-

Baluchis Taimani, Aimaq, Arab and probably Mushwani

people. Many of the more recent rugs called Baluch are wove

by Persian speaking villagers around Herat.

22. Taimuri rug, Khorasan, late 19th century. 0.71 x 1.27m (2'4" x 4'2"). Warp: Z2S, dark ivory wool; weft:

natural brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: wool, AS open left, 8H x 10V = 80/in2 (1,240/dm2); sides: 1 cord overcast

with goat hair; colours: 7. Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, pl.98, attributed as Baluchi type,

possibly Jamshidi, region of the Harirud where it forms the Irano-Afghan border, subsequently assigned to

Jamshidi, Badghiz district. Anne Halley Collection, Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.



25/30


nderson asserts that the Jamshidi, Firozkohi and Hazara all

orked as copy artists around Herat. But I remember buying

gs called Jamshidi in Kabul that were fairly loosely woven, not

e workshop products at all.

egarding the suggestion that the Jamshidi and Firozkohi were

xiles from the Elburz Mountains, I was told a similar story by a

mshidi Uzbek, who said his people had come from the Takht-e-

mshid (Throne of Jamshid), but been forced out of Iran

because of their Sunni faith. This may be another case of one

dispersed tribe becoming allied with several different groups.

I am surprised that Anderson says the Hazaras were not

traditional pile rug weavers. I saw many rugs of the shaggy ju

type identified as Hazara while I was in Kabul. Hajji Yusef, a

Hazara rug dealer and repairer, showed me some, saying tha

they were exactly like the Uzbek ones but that the colours an

weave of the Hazara type were inferior.

23.Jehan Begi (?) prayer rug, Torbat-e-Heydariyeh area, Khorasan, late 19th century. 0.79 x

1.27m (2'7" x 4'2"). Warp: Z2S, natural ivory wool, depressed; weft: dark brown wool and camel

hair, 2 shoots; knot: wool, AS open left, 10H x 14V = 140/in2 (2,170/dm2); sides: 4 cords 3Z(Z2S)

ivory wool overwrapped in figure-8 with goat hair; ends: bands of weft-float, stepped

discontinuous weft-float, slit-tapestry, sumakh and plain tapestry; colours: 10. Belouch Prayer

Rugs, pl.28, attributed to Turkestan, Baluch, subsequently reattributed to Jamshidi, upper

Kushk Valley lower Murghab. Private collection USA, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo,

California.



26/30


nderson refers to plate 26 in Michael Craycrafts Belouch

rayer Rugs as a funeral rug (11). This is new to me such rugs

e very rare, but funerals are very common. Has anyone ever

een one being used on a bier besides Anderson? Was this its

nly use? Its possible, of course. He didnt comment on

raycrafts reference to the albino camel wool in the field being

ttributable to the Dasht-e-Margo and Dash-e-Khash desert

asins.

s for the type which Craycraft calls Kizil Bash Turkoman (10),

hich Boucher attributes to the Baizidi, and Anderson says was

ade by a Jehan Begi woman married to a Salar Khani man I

ave never heard of the Baizidi and if this is any kind of

Turkoman Ill eat an albino camel raw. I would have thought

Jehan Begi myself.

Andersons idea of the fixed and static nature of design within

each of the Baluch subtribes is new to me. That a certain bor

or field design is unique to one group and may appear only as

result of tribal intermarriage, or as a result of defeat by anothe

tribe, seems extraordinary. It reminds me of Moshkovas livin

gl, dead gl theory. In north Afghanistan rug weaving is a

communal activity: one woman, usually the oldest, oversees

process and all the women and girls do the weaving. Anderso

seems to imply that each rug was woven by one woman, or a

least that the designs could be relevant to her alone.

Pathans in Quetta, early 20th century

ndersons idea of the fixed and static nature of design within

ach of the Baluch subtribes is new to me. That a certain border

field design is unique to one group and may appear only as a

sult of tribal intermarriage, or as a result of defeat by another

be, seems extraordinary. It reminds me of Moshkovas living

l, dead gl theory. In north Afghanistan rug weaving is a

ommunal activity: one woman, usually the oldest, oversees theocess and all the women and girls do the weaving. Anderson

eems to imply that each rug was woven by one woman, or at

ast that the designs could be relevant to her alone.

I agree that plate 93 in the 1990 ICOC exhibition catalogue is

typical Jehan Begi (21). They were all over the bazaar in the

1970s. Ive never heard of Karai rugs, though there is someth

called a Karai kebab Ive eaten them.

Plate 95 in the ICOC catalogue Arab Baluch, I agree (15).

There are Arab groups all over Afghanistan allied with other

groups. There are Arab Baluch, Arab Uzbek and Ive even heof Arab Turkoman, although Ive never met one.



27/30


25. Rukshani Baluch carpet, Baddini tribe, Nushki area, Chagai district, Baluchistan, late 18th or

19th century. 1.45 x 4.65m (4'9" x 15'3"). Warp: Z2S, ivory wool; weft: brown, grey brown andapricot wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2ZS, wool, AS open left, 6-7H x 6-9V = 36-63/in2 (558-976/dm2);

sides: not original; ends: bands of weft-faced plainweave, with weft substitution decoration at

bottom; colours: 20. Eiland, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections, pl.97, attributed as Aimaq or

Baluchi, mid-18th century, subsequently reassigned to Taimani Aimaq, Khiva, with one flatwoven

end done in Baluchistan. Anne Halley Collection, Courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo,

California.

o far as I know none of them still speak Arabic, but use the

nguage of their allied group. They did a lot of the weaving in

fghanistan and in the Bukhara Emirate, but receive very little

edit for it today. Traditionally the men wove as well as the

omen unique in this part of the world. Arab weavings are

verse in colour and technique, but Ive found that they all seem

favour linear designs arranged in bands, like this rug.

What a strange long carpet plate 97 in the ICOC catalogue is

25). The kilim at one end only comes from Pakistani

Baluchistan. Without the kilim it would be impossible to identi

Such kilims were common in the bazaars about ten years ago

but Ive never seen it combined with pile weaving before.

Anderson makes a very convincing argument about its origin

but the design is a straight copy of a Beshir rug, with everyth

but the warm Beshir yellow. I cant agree that Sistani and

Turkoman culture are the same. Ive been in both places and

can say that the food, language, clothing and architecture are

different. This is a Baluch copy of a Turkoman rug.



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26.Arab Baluch carpet, Firdows area, Khorasan, 19th century. 1.42 x 2.54m (4'8" x 8'4"). Warp: Z3S,

white cotton, on one level; weft: mostly white cotton, some grey, 2 shoots, loosely packed; knot: 2-3Z,wool, AS open right, 9H x 10V = 90/in2 (1,395/dm2); sides: 1 cord of 2 3-4Z(Z3S) cotton warps

overwrapped and secured to sides with wefts around the outer cord in figure-8, covered with simple

overcast of goat hair; ends: top balanced cotton plainweave with 2 shoots of indigo wool flanking

remants of weft substitution zig-zag meander. Baluch Perspectives, HALI 59, p.114, attributed to Qain

or Torbat-e-Heydariyeh, late 18th century, subsequently reattributed as Arab or possibly Afshar,

Birjand district, late 19th century. Anne Halley Collection, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo,

California.

must agree with Michael Craycrafts Aimaq attribution for no.8

the Baluch Poll (27), though the field design and colours are

aimani. It is very hard to identify rugs from photos, but this looks

o dull and unfocused for a Salar Khani weaving. That tan/

ellow is an Aimaq marker for me. I dont know why Craycraft

inks this is from Khiva.

wouldnt call no.2 in the HALI Poll (26) a tribal rug. It was

oven by a committee and to me looks like the grandfather of all

e commercial village rugs that came out of Adraskand and

hindand. Except for the border it is Persian and nasty. Just my

pinion though.

ont know what plate 30 in Belouch Prayer Rugs is, but I

ouldnt call it Kurd (18). Prayer rugs and bags with the spade-

ke figures in the camel field were common in Afghan bazaars in

e 1970s and 1980s. The prayer rugs seemed rather small, but

ey often had a nice thick pile. I dont know of Kurds weaving in

Anderson also mentions the Baluch, Arabs and Lokharis of

northern Afghanistan. Ive met Lokharis in Kabul. They weave

those sumakh type flatweaves and donkey bags with the red

and eight-pointed stars. I thought they were Uzbeks from the

weaving, but when I met them they denied it. Persian was all

spoke. I even tried bargaining with them in Uzbeki but receive

only blank stares.

He also mentions the dark kilims woven in two pieces and

stitched down the centre. These, I agree, are woven by Arabs

probably in central and southern Afghanistan, as they were

marketed out of Herat and Kandahar, not Mazar-i-Sharif. He

doesnt mention pile carpets woven in two pieces and sewn

together. They are very common in Afghanistan though they

not popular in the West. Most of them seem to be either Aima

Mushwani. I was never able to find out why they were woven

way, though I heard people say that the weavers were noma

and couldnt carry wide looms.



29/30


fghanistan and I doubt these were imported from Iran. With its

isp drawing, bright brick red and bright white wool, plate 28 in

elouch Prayer Rugs is, I agree, probably Jehan Begi (23).

27. Salar Khani rug, Khorasan, 19th century. 1.22 x 1.50m (4'0" x 4'11"). Warp: Z2S,

mostly natural ivory wool, with small sections of grey-brown and mixed yarns, depressed;

weft: mostly natural camel hair, with small sections of dark brown wool, 2 shoots; knot: 2-

3Z, wool (a few knots in white cotton), SY, 9H x 9V = 81/in2 (1,255/dm2); sides: missing;

ends: top missing, bottom remnants of weft-faced plainweave in red wool; colours: 11.

Baluch Perspectives, HALI 59, p.117, attributed as Aimaq, Khiva region (?),

subsequently assigned to Aimaq, north Amu Darya, Syr Darya or south Aral region, early

19th century. Anne Halley Collection, courtesy Adraskand Inc., San Anselmo, California.

wasnt too satisfied with this. I was in a Kabul rug shop once

here the shopkeeper was trying to sell some of these two-piece

gs to some tourists. When they asked why the rugs were sewn

own the middle he gave a very interesting explanation, saying

at one side was woven by the grooms family and the other by

e brides. On the marriage night the pieces were joined. After

e tourists left I asked where he had heard this story; he told me

e had made it up. He seemed

to be quite proud and why not? It was a great story. His

customers enjoyed it. Was he a liar? No, just a guy trying to

entertain his guests and sell a few rugs. I think that lot of com

misinformation comes out of situations like this. Shopkeepers

that they should say something interesting to the Western bu

who seem to expect a story with their rug. Those of us who l

in Afghanistan are familiar with the expression, "Kasesh muf

"(The story is free).

ginal text & photos appeared in HALI 76, 1994

text by Andrew Hale 2004

parts of this text or any photo may be re-produced, transmitted or copied by electronic means or otherwise without permission fro

hor. I would like to thank the publishers of HALIfor granting permission to reproduce these two articles for this site.

http://www.hali.com/http://www.hali.com/


30/30


Documents

Baluch Rugs