History Of Kashmir Carpets

The Kashmiri Carpets are famous not only in India but across the globe. The Kashmiri Carpet is known for its
specialty of being handmade and similarly it is knotted and not tufted. The History Of Kashmiri Carpets is
nearly 1500 years old and it is not exactly known where and by whom the first Carpet was made. However in India
Carpet weaving was first introduced in Kashmir in late 15th Century by King Budshah who brought artisans from
Persia to train the people in Kashmir to spin and weave Carpets. Though the people of Kashmir were already introduced
to weaving and spinning, the King insisted on them learning the technique from the Persians.

Factories or locally referred as Karkhana’s were soon started by the King which led to a flourishing industry
in the field of carpet weaving in the valley of Kashmir. But however after the period of King Badshah there
was a major setback in this field only to be revived later during the rule of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir.
It was the great Saint Akhun Mulla Rahnuma of the Mughal period who played a major role in reviving the
Carpet weaving industry with the help of the then Governor of Kashmir during 1600. Once again there was
a dip in the industry at the time of the Afghan and the Sikh rule during which there was a big crisis in all the
field of Craft. The mid of the 18th century witnessed an unexpected growth in the carpet industry with an
increased quality and quantity.

It was during the mid 18th century that the beautiful mughal Carpets from Kashmir were displayed at
the Crystal Palace exhibition in London and was very much appreciated by the Europeans and slowly
the Kashmiris started to cater according to the need of the Western culture. There was once again a
setback in the Carpet industry at the time of world recession in 1902. Also the partition of India affected
the market for the Carpets both at national and international level. Only during the late 20th century the
local manufacturers took steps in re-establishing this industry and then made a continuous progress. Once
the local government was established in the state during 1950’s there was more effort to stabilize the carpet
industry in order to increase the revenue of the state.

The making of a Kashmiri carpet is a pure art and its quality depends on the number of knots. It is usually
handmade and hand knotted and is made of pure wool or pure silk whereas a low quality carpet may be a
blend of wool, Cotton and Silk. The Silk Carpet is usually woven with Mulberry Silk and its quality is tested
based on the number of knots it has, for 600-900 knots per square inch ranks a very high quality and durability.
It takes at least 8 to 10 months for weaving of an intricate and a good quality Carpet. The fact of the Kashmiri Carpets
being priced high is quite common for the amount of work and the time it involves. The magic behind the entire process
of carpet weaving involves the entire family or the household sitting around a handloom throughout the day with
dedication and concentration weaving magic with their fingers to convert mere silk or woolen threads into perfect
designs of beautiful colors.

A parrot refers to life, a sparrow to fertility and good harvest, trees like palm trees, pear trees, and pomegranate
trees represents fulfillment and blessings, Roses signify prosperity. Animals like camel denotes\ wealth and happiness,
a lion represents loyalty, scenes with fighting animals on oriental carpets symbolize the eternal struggle between
good and evil. The peacock, the national bird of India, denotes royalty. Different soft colors are also used in the
manufacture where sky blue denotes Persian national color, green is a religious color for Muslims often used in
prayer rugs, Red represents good virtues like joy and cheerfulness, Indigo blue represents solitude. Black color is
generally avoided.

The art of Carpet weaving in Kashmir is passed from one generation to another and most of these
traditional weavers prefer to hand weave the Carpets in spite of many new mechanized process which
has come up. The process of Kashmiri Carpet making is quite laborious for it involves a lot of time and
different steps starting right from cultivation of silk or wool, treating and dyeing it, deciding the pattern
of the carpet, weaving and then adding the final touches. Nakaash is the person who designs the Carpet,
a Kalimba is the weaver and the ranger is the person who Dyes the Carpet in the local Kashmiri language.

In the making of the Carpet the weaver follows the Talim chart which is a coded colour chart. This chart
indicates the number of knots which has to be weaved according to the panned colours. As the day starts
the master weaver reads out the code and the assistants follows the instructions carefully.

The Kashmiri Carpets can be considered as a life time investment for it is hand-made. It is always prized quite
high for the making of the Carpet is quite laborious and time involving. Also the raw materials used in the
production are very expensive like wool and silk. A handmade Kashmir carpet ranges from anywhere between
Rs. 7000 to Rs. 20,00,000 depending upon the workmanship and the material used.
However nowadays the prices are curbed for the fact that the artisans these days use mercerized cotton in the
making of the Carpet. Also various other unique features add to the heavy pricing of the carpet. The latest trend
used in the making of the carpet is the use of mercerized cotton. However the use of computer for designing by
Indian Institute of Carpet Technology ( IICT ) on software called Naqash is getting quite common for it is said to
save the time and money of the artisans.

The “Miras Carpet Industries” has come up with eight centers in different parts of Kashmir to impart training
to the people in the field of carpet weaving.
Thus now the artisans are trying to use different kinds of fabrics incarpet weaving. Innovations like “pseudo-new”
designs and some quality control steps which are followed has helped in the enhancement of the industry.
In spite of innumerable specialties and durability both the art and the artisans have suffered and are suffering a lot
due to the fading of the art in various grounds like financial resources, lack of modern technology in dyeing and
designing, production of duplicate Kashmiri carpets, etc.
GH. MOHMMAD GANI who is known to be weaving the most Expensive Carpets in Kashmir says that inspite
of the excellent tourism of the state the survival is becoming quite difficult for the weavers mainly because of
economic inflation.

He complaints that it is difficult to work with Silk thread and cotton after the sunset for the electricity is very erratic. This art of weaving is practiced more in rural areas of Kashmir like Baramulla and Budgam etc districts. Apart from these places there are few colonies in and around Dal Lake and Achar Lake in Srinagar city where many artisans are associated with the weaving. However the showroom people who have shops in urban areas though they purchase at a low price they are able to sell it at exorbitant rates. So the sufferers are mostly the makers who live in the rural areas. This industry is roughly said to bring a turnover of about 650 crores strong with a majority of products worth Rs 412.45 crores exported to United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Gulf countries.