|
Click here to proceed to region listing for country
Pakistan came into existence as an independent country shortly after the end of WW2 and consequently shares much of its cultural and rug-making heritage and history with India. After the partition in 1947, Pakistani government provided massive subsidies to the then declining rug-making industry and introduced more modern methods of organization, production and quality control. Muslim weavers who had emigrated from India and Turkoman weavers from the north were united to work in large weaving centres in Karachi, Panjub and Peshawar.
The industry was revitalized and since the 1960s it has become an increasingly efficient and organised business, operating under strong centralized control. Some Pakistani weavers own their looms and sub contract work from exporters and while others are directly employed in large manufactories. They all produce rugs to order, with strict criteria laid down to govern the sizes, colours, designs and qualities.
Pakistani rugs can be divided into two broad categories. Single knot which employ Turkoman influence, usually gul (Bokhara or Jaldar) schemes. Double knot which copy traditional Fine Persian workshop designs, Tabriz, Isfahan, Kashan, Sarough etc. The single knot are generally referred to as Mori Bokhara or Jaldar and the Double Knot usually marketed as Persian, and were in fact developed by American Rug merchants to copy Persian designs, quality and colours after the US embargo on Persian goods.
At their best Pakistani rugs are very good value for money particularly when considering the fineness of the knotting in the better quality items. Afghani and Turkoman Refugees in Peshawar and around the borders of Afghanistan now produce carpets called Kazak, Garghai, Choubi, Ziegler, and Chechen that are very beautiful and decorative rugs. These newly developed carpets are woven by Turkoman/Afghan and exported through Pakistan as Pakistan origins rugs. |
|
