Indian Isfahan rugs

Written by Abdolhossein Ghasemnejad.

Hindi rugs are very popular these days mainly because of patterns of Hindi products. Indian producers wisely create rugs that bear innovation as well as classic art. Therefore, customers find these rugs really appealing.
India’s rug weaving practice goes back to 400 years ago when Mongolian rule was established in India. Indian Isfahan rugs are the weaves that originated from that time.

India’s Rug-weaving Background

Chief among the oldest rugs which still remain are the ones kept in the Metropolitan museum which date back to 1600 AD onwards.

India’s Rug-weaving origins

It is said that “Zahir Aldin Mohammad Babar” was the first Mongol ruler in India. Upon his death, his son “Homayoon” inherited the throne only to find himself challenged by his brothers. To survive, he moved to Iran, taking refuge in the court of “Safavi king Tahmaseb”. While living in Iran, he got familiarized with the Iranian arts, especially miniatures. This art appealed to him so much that on return to India to restore the throne (though with the help of the Iranian army), he invited two Iranian miniaturists named “Mir Seyed Ali” and “Abdolsamad Isfahani” to his court. Mir Seyed Ali was tasked with educating “Akbar” who was next in line to the throne. He was also in charge of writing “Hamze Name”, a 14-volume book containing 1400 pictures and miniatures. Abdolsamad Isfahani, too, created a number of works and was known there as “Shiring Ghalam” in reference to his ability to write masterfully. According to recorded history, “King Homayoon” also hired Iranian weavers so he could enjoy special carpets in his court. However, there is no rugs from that period that still remain today. After king Homayoon died, his son “Akbar” who was trained by Mir Seyed Ali came to power. He was also an art enthusiast and employed Iranian weaving experts. Akbar made such great efforts to encourage India’s carpet-weaving practice that they managed to produce various rugs in India, no longer importing any.

Indian Isfahan Rugs

Akbar’s son king “Jahangir” began his reign over India in 1605 contemporary to “Shah Abbas” in Iran. During Shah Abbas’s rule, the Iranian arts including carpet weaving flourished and reached their apex. King Jahangir, too, was passionate about Iranian arts and loved rugs with Floral on their patterns, which led to the same patterns appearing on Indian weaves. As these rugs originated in Isfahan, the capital of the Safavids and the epicenter of the Iranian weaves, they were and are known as Indian Isfahan rugs.

Technical Specifications

Looking at available Hindi rugs, we can see they are woven using asymmetrical knots. In most cases, warps and wefts are made of cotton and wool piles. Later with the advancement in the weaving industry, warps and wefts made of silk were used in most weaves of the 17th century.
Red is the dominant color in Indian Isfahan rugs. The main motif is a flower or plant which appears naturally or in the abstract sense. There are also motifs depicting humans and animals in other more recent weaves.

Bibliography

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
2. Mojabi, Seyed Ali. Fanaee, Zahra. 2018. A prelude to the history of Farsh Jahan. Najaf Abad Azad University Publications.