Classifying the Kurdish Rugs of Iran

William Eagleton

Although the Kurds occupy a vast and contiguous region of the Middle East, there are nevertheless good reasons for classifying their weavings according to where they live, which is mainly in Iran and Turkey, with smaller portions in Iraq, the Caucasus and Syria. We do not know much about the earliest Kurdish weavings, which undoubtedly go back hundreds of years, because these people had a nomadic tradition and a pressing need for useful woven products. In any case, eighteenth-century floral and garden carpets are often identified as Kurdish, and when Oriental rugs entered the Western market in large numbers in the mid-nineteenth century, Kurdish rugs were recognized as a distinct type, and the efforts of writers of books and treatises on rugs to classify them according to their geographical origin began. For example, John Mumford, in a book published in 1900, provided the following list for his table of Persian rugs:

Eastern Kurdistan, Senneh, village-type Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Savojbolagh, Bijar or Garrus, Qoltuq or Zanjan. These are some of the terms, some of which are still in use while others have been abandoned. Apart from Senneh and Bijar rugs, there is still considerable disagreement about the true origin of these weavings. One may ask why attributing a Kurdish or any other origin to rugs is considered important at all.

There are two main reasons. First, for researchers and scholars, knowing the origin of anything is of the utmost importance. Second, for dealers and most rug buyers, having a label that roughly identifies a rug’s provenance is desirable, and such labels sometimes add to the value of the weaving. At least a small part of this issue stems from the relentless efforts of the authors of rug books to classify the rugs entering the market. Many of the authors of such books, who were themselves merchants, found that their customers wanted to buy rugs with a label and a pedigree. At that time, assigning labels and Kurdish provenance to tribal rugs woven from various wools, which were often unidentifiable, was considered a specialty and a profession. Many of these rugs were of genuine Kurdish origin and many others were not, and this is what has given rise to controversies that continue to this day. There is no doubt that the Kurds have played a significant role in the development of Middle Eastern weaving. The two Kurdish weavings called Senneh and Bijar are among the rare and unique examples, and each of them differs from the other. Another Kurdish innovation is offset knotting, or shifting one warp diagonally in a half-knot at a time, examples of which can be seen in the tribal weavings of Iran and Turkey. It might be argued that the depressed warp in Bijar weavings does not belong to Kurdistan but originated in a Turkic tradition in Azerbaijan. Indeed, many Bijar rugs were woven by the Turks of Iran. The sturdiness of these rugs has preserved old examples that are still used as decorative floor coverings. At the same time, these rugs are favored by collectors for their clear, deep colors, and their compatibility with classical designs is such that they suit contemporary taste.

In terms of classification, there is a clear distinction between the large-scale Bijar workshops and what we refer to as tribal Bijars. Tribal Bijar weavings are not particularly refined in structure and design, and their success in most cases depends on circumstance and chance. These rugs were woven in a few villages of the Bijar region and are often a simpler version of the formal Bijar workshop pieces.

Moving south from Bijar toward Hamadan, through Serishabad to Qorveh and Sonqor, one sees a gradual change in structure and design from the depressed warps of Bijar to the flat-woven Kurdish examples that we call Hamadan Kurds. This area includes rugs woven in large numbers before the Second World War by the tribes settled in Koliai. It is said that many Koliai rugs, like other rugs of the Hamadan area, have a single weft between rows of knots, whereas the rugs woven by the other Kurdish tribes of the region have two wefts. I have found that many of the rugs on the market known as Koliai have two wefts and depressed warps. Moving further south and west, that is, toward Kermanshah or the southern frontier of Kurdish weaving, the products of the southern Lur tribes came to resemble those of the Kurds more closely. On her journey to Kermanshah in 1890, an Englishwoman named Isabella Bishop reported on the production of velvety pile rugs. With the passage of time these rugs are no longer known to us, but we are able to classify certain tribal rugs and sacks, especially rugs belonging to the nomadic sections of the Jaf and Sanjabi tribes in Kermanshah province. This, namely the possibility of classifying rugs, also holds true for the sturdy weavings of the Kalhor tribe. The greater part of the work of matching rugs to tribes is conjectural.

Returning northwest toward Sanandaj, the rugs and kilims of Senneh have such distinctive design and structure that they need no description. It is worth noting that the very fine Senneh designs were probably more to the liking and taste of buyers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries than of today’s buyers in the West. For today’s buyers, the uncluttered designs of Senneh and Bijar kilims are more desirable, and weavers in the region have clearly responded to this demand by sending bright and colorful weavings to Western markets. North of Sanandaj lies the large town of Mahabad, or, as writers of a century ago called it, Savojbolagh. The Savojbolagh label is often used for rugs of this area, although many writers do not agree on how these rugs are to be identified. In my view, a traditional Savojbolagh rug has clear, deep colors together with red wefts.

Since the beginning of this century, rugs of this type and quality have no longer been woven, and today no trace of traditional weaving can be seen in the town of Mahabad. These rugs were probably woven in the villages of the area and collected and sold at a particular time. If Kurdish weaving in this area is ever to be revived, these old rugs could serve as good models for new production. Before my visit to the city of Tabriz this week, I wondered how to define the Savojbolagh design and label in classifying the weavings of the last sixty years. But in turning to the classification of the Kurdish rugs we more or less know, I came across pieces that cannot be classified. I hope that further research will enable us to classify many weavings with the help of the tribes and their areas of settlement, but for the time being I prefer to refer to such rugs as “rugs of the mountains of northwest Iran.” Undoubtedly, weavings of this category have existed and still exist from Kermanshah to north of the Aras River. These Kurdish weavings are also found in the border regions of Azerbaijan and Armenia. It is said that Kurdish weavings also exist in the Hashtrud area and some Shahsavan areas, but given that the people of the Shahsavan areas have forgotten their Kurdish language and traditions, I will not comment on the Kurdish origin of Shahsavan weavings. Other Kurdish weavers live on the eastern frontiers, such as the areas of Zanjan, Qazvin and Varamin, but at present it is impossible to distinguish their weavings from those of other ethnic and racial groups, and only by moving further east to Khorasan is it possible to find distinctive Kurdish products, which are influenced by their proximity to the Turkmen and the Baluch. Such weavings have been well categorized and traced in the book Kurdish Rugs by Wilfried Stanzer. Old Quchan rugs are now rare, but many kilims and weft-faced saddlebags have recently found their way to the market and have earned a new distinction for the Quchan area.

What can be said about the future of Kurdish weaving? Over the last fifty years there has been a considerable decline in the number of village and tribal rugs woven and exported to the market. In Kurdish rugs and other tribal rugs, the quality of color is of particular importance. Of course natural dyes are the ideal for rugs, but where they are not available, at the very least chemical dyes whose appearance recalls the variety of nature should be used, and their use should be encouraged. Most women weavers use cheap and readily available dyes that cannot withstand water or light.

This short article has made it clear that a wide field of research lies open before us, especially the question of provenance, which helps us distinguish Kurdish rugs from those of their neighbors. When I wrote an introduction to Kurdish rugs in the early 1980s, I had no opportunity to visit Iran and obtain information that is available only here. I am now extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to be with you at this session of the Iran Carpet Conference. Unfortunately, on this one-week visit there is not enough time to visit all the places I would like to see, but God willing I will return to continue my research on Kurdish weavings where they are woven, and to enjoy the beauty and the special hospitality of Iran.