in production in Agra in 1619. After the partition of India in 1947, many Muslim weavers immigrated to Pakistan. The industry has recovered, and presently there is an active carpet-weaving industry in Agra. Some rugs are woven by prisoners of the Agra Central Jail. See “India.”
Agra rug Doris Leslie Blau
A.H. See “Anno Hegirae.”
Ahar, Ahjar. A town in the Heriz region of northwest Iran. A designation of fine weave or curvilinear design in Heriz rugs. Contemporary rugs of Ahar have medallions and spandrels. The symmetric knot is used at a density of about 65 per square inch on a cotton foundation. The wefts may be blue. Single-wefted rugs of the Heriz area may be termed “Ahar.” See “Iran.”
Ahmedabad. Formerly a rug-weaving center in west central India. There is no significant current production. See “India.”
Ahura Mazda. See “Zoroastrianism.”
Aibak. See “Samangân.”
Aimaq, Chahar Aimaq (Turk. or Mongol, “four tribes”). Four semi-nomadic tribes of partly Turko-Mongol origin inhabiting Afghanistan and Iran: the Hazara, Firozkohi, Jamshidi, and Taima ni. See entries under these names. Some of these tribes are noted for their rug production. Their weavings are sometimes confused with those of the Baluch. See "Afghanistan," "Mushwani," and "Timuri."
Aimaq (Jamshidi) rug Michael Craycraft
aina gul, mirror gul (Persian âyena, “mirror”). A Turkmen gul consisting of a quartered diamond in a rectangle or a stepped diamond within a regular diamond within a rectangle. These are termed “compartment guls.”
Aina gul After Moshkova
Ainabad. See “Bibikabad.”
aina-kotchak. See “kochak.”
aina khalata. Small mirror bag.
Ainalu. A tribe of the Khamseh Confederacy of southwest Iran. See “Khamseh Confederacy.”
Aintab, Aintap. See “Gaziantep.”
ajdaha, ejderha, (Persian azhdahâ, “dragon”). A dragon motif in Persian rugs, usually reduced to an “S” shape or “Z” shape. It is common in borders as overlapping or sequential “S” or “Z” shapes. See “dragon and phoenix” and “S-borders.”
ak, aq (Turk.) White.
ak chuval. A joval with a white ground pile skirt and white flatwoven stripes. See “joval.”
Ak Chuval Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Price
Akhisar (Turk. ak hisar, “white castle”). A town of northwest Anatolia. The town is a minor source of prayer rugs in red and orange. Small pompons may be attached to the selvedge. Kilim ends may be ornamented with pile buttons. See “Turkey.”
Ak Karaman. A breed of fat-tailed sheep of central and east Anatolia.
Aksaray. A town of central Anatolia and a center of Turkmen carpet weaving during the Seljuk period. Aksaray is a source of kilims. Often, there is a design offset between the two halves of these kilims. See “Turkey.”
Aksaray kilim (detail)
Aksaray yastik R. John Howe
Akşehir (Turk., white town). A town of western Anatolia and a rug weaving center in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
aksi (Persian, “pictorial”). Used to describe rugs with a pictorial emphasis rather than a design emphasis. See “pictorial rug” and “war rugs.”
Akstafa, Akstafa peacock. The town of Akstafa and the river Akstafa are located in the Transcaucasus. The Akstafa peacock motif is a geometricized bird with an elaborate tail. As a design element, it is found on rugs of Shirvân in the Caucasus and in Turkish rugs. Akstafa design rugs of nineteenth-century Shirvân are woven with the symmetric knot at a density of about 107 knots per square inch. Average size is about 34 square feet. Warps are wool and wefts may be cotton or wool. See “Shirvân.”
Akstafa peacock
Akstafa rug Sothebys
ak-su (Turk. “white water”). A repeated design motif consisting of interlocking quadrilaterals with projections.
Torba with ak-su motif Sothebys
Ak-su motif
ak yup (Turk.). White tent band.
alachiq. A domed felt tent of the Moghân Shahsavan.
ala chuval. Anatolian flatwoven storage bags. These bags are made in pairs. Designs are woven in horizontal or vertical panels. Sizes are about 2 feet to 4 feet high and about 20 inches to 30 inches wide. The bag is open on a short side. See “joval.”
Anatolian brocaded ala chuval (opened up) Hugh Rance
alam. See “elem.”
Alamdâr. A village of the Hamadan area in northwest Iran. The village is a source of rugs with a geometric Herati pattern on a blue field.
Alanya. A coastal town of south central Anatolia and a minor source of rugs and kilims. See “Turkey.”
alasa, alasha. In Kazakhstan, a flatwoven rug consisting of woven bands sewn together. See “gadzhari” and “jijim.”
Albania. Since World War II, a source of contemporary, very well-made pile rugs with Persian designs.
alcatif (Portuguese alcatifa from Arabic al-qatif(a), “velvet, plush”). An archaic term for rugs of India.
Alcaraz. A textile and rug-weaving center in Spain from the fifteenth to the mid-seventeenth centuries. Spanish wreath design, armorial carpets, ogival lattice carpets, and copies of Holbein rugs are attributed to Alcaraz. See “Spain” and “wreath carpets.”
Alcaraz
