“Herat, in northern Afghanistan produces the most kilims. There, you will get kilims that are more than a 100-years-old” — Sameer Khan of HS Rugs, an Afghanistan-based company, is full of trivia about the country’s carpet industry. He was recently in India, to exhibit their carpets and kilims at Bengaluru’s Vermilion House. It was a mega event as the carpet industry is one of the most important industries in Afghanistan. Afghan carpets are known for their quality of wool, natural dying process and excellent craftsmanship.
“I procure all the products own my own. I am not a trader, but a collector. My firm is 19 years old on paper, but I have been a collector since I was 16. My mission is to give a platform to the artisans as kilim is a dying art,” said Sameer.
Kilim , he said, is a word of Turkish origin, and is produced by several flat weaving techniques, practised in parts of Turkey (Anatolia and Thrace), North Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia and China.
“The original pronunciation of kilim is ‘ gelum ’, which travelled to Iran and then to Afghanistan. And as it did, the word became kilim. There are different types of kilims, which have different motifs, including evil eye, good luck, motherhood, scorpions, amulets, protection signs, and more,” he said. Elucidating further on traditional Afghan kilim work, he said, “The various types of kilims produced are maliki , sozani , nakhunak , among others. The nakhunak or mushwani , is a mixture of kilim and carpet. You won’t get this anywhere except in Afghanistan. These are woven by the Qala-i-Naw tribe in Badghis, Herat. The maliky kilim is a geometrical design, which uses flattened weaving. The design is predominantly influenced by the Qafqaz pattern. Then there is chobi kilim, made from Ghazni wool, which when dyed gets a rustic texture. This type has colourful designs in a modern pattern,and is woven by the Hazara tribe in Dasht-e-Barchi.” HS Rugs was started by Sameer’s grandfather Haji Hassan. “It was passed down to my father Haji Mohammad Hussain and then to me,” he said.
Among Afghan carpets, the Khal Mohammed carpets — named after the carpet designer and weaver of the same name — are well-known in Europe and the United States for their gorgeous red wine colour, he added.“Then there are lapis lazuli dyed-carpets,” he remarked. “The semi-precious stone, is crushed and a dye is made from it.”
