Afghanistan was the first area that I studied and
when I sold rugs it was much of what I sold. But over time I moved on
in my studies and much of my early work was lost or set aside. Now I am
attempting to reconstruct my earlier work and pull things together
while expanding and correcting as I go along. I will use this page to
group and sort and as each section comes together I will split them off
into their own subject area guide. So forgive my mess while I put it
together.
Odd rugs of which there are few. Maybe a dozen at
most have turned up in the last 20 years and as far as I know they all
passed through Tom Cole's hands. Doubtless he could tell us more and
will when he is ready. My personal theory is that they are related to
2500 year old Tocharian sleeping rugs found in the Tarim Basin area of
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Red China (People's Republic
of China). Further I suggest that a remnant of the Tocharian people are
now in the polyglot that we know as Pashtun. The line of descent would
roughly be Tocharian to Wu Chi to Gandaharan to Pashtun. Now that
leaves out a lot but takes in the high points. It also accounts for the
Tocahian traits scattered though the Pashtun people.
The Kizil
Ajak were a sub or component tribe of the Ersari.
I have been working on a theory for several years about the Ersari
and where they fit into the Turkmen Hierarchy. With the help of a
friend I have finally come to the conclusion that Ersari and Azeri are
different spellings of the same world. That as such the Ersari
is the direct political heirs of the Oghuz Turks or that actually the Ersari
are the Oghuz or Azeri as I have theorized. The Turkmen who came out of
Central Asia into Persia and the Ottoman Empire were Oghuz and now
their descendents speak a dialect of Northern or Southern Azeri.
The Kizil Ajak are considered to be one of the
identifiable component tribes of the old Ersari Confederation. The
Kizil Ajak are one of the Turkmen tribes in Northern Afghanistan that
was south of the Russian market influence in the 19th century and
consequently have a distinctly different look.
The knot is an asymmetrical knot open to the right
with a ribbed back and a knot count of under 130 (8 by 7).
The Russian invasion fundamentally changed the
nature of Afghan rugs and I mean in a more substantial way than just
war rugs. The old economic system passed on farmers supporting village
craftsmen became increasingly unable to handle the needs of the people
as the war made the economic systen disintegrate. To cope with this
millions of Afghans fled into neighboring countries particularly
Pakistan and then Iran. Obviously the refugees were not going north
into Communist occupied land.
In Pakistan the money poured in and the people
were settled in camps once the ability ogf the villages to absorb
refugees was saturated.
The Taimani people date back to the IL Khanid
dynasty era of Iran. In a fight over succession, status, and power the
4 branches of the Mongol people went to war.from them by the IL Khanid
Mongols. The Taimani were of the Golden Horde and they became trapped
in afghanistan after they were seperated from them by the IL Khanid
Mongols. They were welcomed in to the Herat area by the Khan of the
Chagatai Mongols who allowed them to stay.
This
is a video on an Afghan Beaded Bag from the Thea Sands collection. This
is very much a learning experience for me. I bought a new camcorder and
I am starting to get the hang of this. I will be trying more ambitious
projects soon.
I
am hoping that by my talk December 6th I will be able to record some of
that presentation. I would also like the chance to record some
collections and interview some dealers and collectors.
Andkhoi
(population 28,000), in the heart of Turkoman country, is a collection
center of qaraqul and many types of Turkoman rugs.
Saruq, Qara Tekke and Sulaiman are only a few of the important Turkoman
tribal rugs to be found in the rug serais of Andkhoi. Nancy
Hatch Dupree. An Historical Guide To Afghanistan. Chapter21
