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Hamadan rugs, Hamadan carpets |
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The City of Hamadan in north-west Iran is an important centre of the rug trade. Originally called Ekbatan when it was the a capital of the Achemenian kings. It is still a provincial capital city and serves as the trading centre for rugs woven for export in hundreds of towns and villages in the region.
Two types of rug are woven. The first is the so-called "town weave", otherwise known as Shahrbaff. These are solidly woven carpets with classical designs and often of large size. Much more important from the rug collector's point of view is the village production. Many distinct tribal varieties are found including Begardeh, Enjilass, Hosseinabad and Zanjan.
There are a wide variety of designs but the quality is very constant: a weave of medium density, and single wefted, allowing the warps to be seen on the reverse. Warps and wefts are cotton, the pile is wool. The colours are strong and often derived from vegetable dyes. Designs are bold but occasionally, particularly in Hosseinabad and Enjilass, all-over patterns can be found.
Other weaving centres which come within the general category of Hamadan are Alamdar, Borchalu,Borujerd, Chenar, Darjazin, Enjilas, Hosseinabad, Khamseh, Kolyai, Lilehan, Mehreban, Nanaj, Rudbar, Saveh, Tajabad, Tafresh, Taleghan, Tuiserkan, Zagh and Zanjan.