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More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell

Guide to Kazak Rugs and Carpets

Tufenkian Carpets Area Rug Sale.

The Kazak Rug

When we read Kazak Rug in the rug trade we mean a rug made in what was the Kazak Khanate prior to the Russian capture in 1805. Kazak (Qazaq) is an administrative district in modern day Azerbaijan. If that is where it stops that would make things much easier. We also refer to many of the rugs of the Akstafa region as Kazak. The rugs of Borchalu are also counted as Kazak. The rugs of north half of the Erevan Khanate are called Kazak. We can also include many more attractive rugs from Gendge and even Karabagh that people call Kazak. .

1797 - 1834 Qajar Shah Fath Ali Shah 1797 - 1834.
1801 Czar Alexander annexes Georgia.
1805 Czarist Russia annexes Kazak, Shams od din, and Borchalu in 1805.
1812 Population of Erevan was 13 - 14,000 - in 1812.
1828 Erevan was the last territory seized by the Czarist Russians in the Transcaucasus in 1828.
1828 Persia agreed by treaty that Armenians were free to return to Armenia now that it was in Czarist hands.

Southwest Asia Time Line 1500 to Now

The Reyn Staffel Kazak Rug

So what makes a Kazak rug a Kazak

First of all Kazak rugs are not woven by Kazaks. There is same question about who or what is a Kazak. They are not directly related to the Kazakhs of Kazakhstan or the Cossacks of Russia. Kazak in it's many spellings referrs to a political relationship rather than a tribe. The first use of the term that I know of is in the Yuan ch'ao pi-shih which dates to the 13th century. I will pick up that thread elsewhere. The point is that the Kazaks of Kazak were Azeri tribes that tried to maintain their freedom while standing off the Turks, the Persians, and the Russians. When Czar Alexander annexed Kazak, Shams od din, and Borchalu in 1805 the Moslems and Kurds were uprooted.

Province of Erevan in 1832

http://www.spongobongo.com/cauc1.htm

Bordjalou / Borchalu "Kazak" Rugs

The Borchalu were a Mongol created tribe who settled in the area of Georgia that borders on present day Armenia and Azerbaijan. However very few of the Borchalu rugs were ever woven by I will deal with this in a seperate article at a later date.

Bordjalou prayer rug late 19th c Lot 110

Guide to Caucasian Prayer Rugs

Lori Pambak

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