History of Carpet

 THE CARPET HISTORY

Carpet weaving was started  in the history  as far back with the 11th century approaching of the primary Muslim conquerors, the Ghaznavids and ther Ghauris, from the West. It started growing with the beginning of the Mughal Empire in  the early 15th century, once the last successor of ruler, Babar, extended his rule from Kabul to India to establish  the Mughal Empire. Under the rule of the Mughals, Indian artisans adopted Persian techniques of weaving rugs.  Rugs made in Mirzapur and Badohi area had lot of motifs and ornamental designs inspired by Mughal style.

Akbar, a Mughal emperor can be given credit to enhance the grace of carpet weaving to India in 1500 A.D. throughout his reign. The Mughal emperors used Persian carpets for his royal courts and palaces. Throughout this era, he brought Persian artisans from their country of origin and settled them in India. In the beginning, the carpets woven showed the classic Persian type of fine knotting. Step by step it mixed with Indian art. Later the carpets were made more with different styles and step by step the trade began to diversify and unfold in other regions of India.

During the Mughal era, the carpets manufactured on the Indian region became more famous in abroad. These carpets had distinctive styles and boasted a high density of knots. Carpets created for the Mughal emperors were of the best quality. Beneath imperator Jahan’s accent, Mughal carpet weaving took on a replacement aesthetic and entered its classical part.

Indian carpets are renowned for their intricate designs with attention to details with presentation of realistic attributes. The carpet trade in India spread more in northern areas such as Kashmir, Jaipur, Agra and Bhadohi.

Indian carpets are better known for their high compactness of knotting. Hand-knotted carpets got extremely good response from the West.

One more type of Indian carpets that is quite famous in most of the western countries, haven’t received a lot of global attention  is hand-woven rugs of Khairabad.   Khairabad  in Citapore (now known as “Sitapur”) district of India had been dominated by Raja Mehmoodabad.   Khairabad (Mehmoodabad Property) was a part of Oudh range that had been dominated by shi’i Muslims having Persian linkages. Citapore rugs created in Khairabad and neighbor areas are all hand-woven and distinct from tufted and knotted rugs. Flat weave is the basic weaving technique of Citapore rugs and usually cotton is used as main material.  Some other material being used now days are jute and chenille.