Origins & Weaving Traditions

The Oriental Rug Encyclopedia

A conservator’s field guide to the world’s great rug-making traditions. Each origin documented by Ghorban Ahmadi — the history, the craft, the care.

Tabriz, Kashan, Heriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, and the city and tribal traditions that built the reference standard for hand-knotted weaving.

Oushak, Kilim, and Hereke — the court, village, and flatweave traditions that define Anatolian weaving.

Kazak and the bold geometric tribal weaving of the Caucasus mountains.

Agra's imperial Mughal court tradition and Jaipur's modern commercial weaving, plus block-printed dhurrie flatweaves.

Baluch nomadic tribal weaving — deep reds, dark navy and brown, and one of the most accessible entry points to hand-knotted ownership.

Peking's imperial workshop tradition and the 1920s–30s Art Deco export era — carved, sculpted pile unlike anywhere else.

Beni Ourain Berber weaving — undyed cream wool, bold geometric diamonds, and deep shaggy pile.

Bokhara gul-pattern weaving from Turkmen refugee workshops in Peshawar and Lahore.

The Tibetan Tiger tradition — Buddhist monastery weaving built on a knotting technique found nowhere else in this encyclopedia.

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