Pakistani rugs

A short history

Knotted carpets were woven in the region under the Mughal emperors from the 16th century. Lahore was a leading center, and its carpets were among the first from the region to reach Europe in the 17th century.

Under British rule, weaving was taught in jails in cities such as Lahore and Karachi. After independence in 1947, the craft spread well beyond them, and hand-knotted rugs became one of Pakistan’s leading exports.

From the 1980s, many weavers from Afghanistan worked in refugee camps in Pakistan, and Peshawar grew into a major market for their rugs. That is one reason the rugs of the two countries share so many designs.

Bokhara and Jaldar rugs

A Bokhara rug repeats rows of guls, the medallion-like emblems of Turkmen weaving, usually on a red ground. The name comes from Bukhara, the old trading city where Turkmen rugs were once sold. Bokhara rugs are woven with the Turkish (symmetrical) knot.

A Jaldar rug also repeats a small motif, here a diamond-shaped gul, in rows across the field. Its designs draw on Turkmen and Persian sources, and it is also woven with the Turkish knot.

Pak Persian, Chobi and Gabbeh

Pak Persian rugs copy the floral and medallion designs of Persian city rugs such as Kashan, Kerman and Isfahan. They are woven with the Persian (asymmetrical) knot, which suits fine curved lines. They are Persian in design only: a Pak Persian is made in Pakistan.

Chobi rugs, also sold as Ziegler or Peshawar rugs, have large, open floral designs in soft, faded colors. The best are made with handspun wool and natural dyes.

Pakistani Gabbeh rugs follow the thick, simple designs of the Persian Gabbeh, with a deep pile and plain fields of color.

What to check before you buy

Turn the rug over. On a hand-knotted rug the design shows clearly on the back, and the fringe is the ends of the warp threads, not a strip sewn on.

Look closely at the colors. Natural dyes give gentle changes of shade within one color, called abrash. Very flat, even color usually means synthetic dyes, which are common and not a flaw, but they should cost less.

Ask how the rug was washed. Some rugs are washed with strong chemicals to give a high sheen. That can weaken the wool, so a softer sheen is often the safer choice.

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