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3 of the most famous Afghan carpets, also told here with a micro introduction about the two peoples who weave them: Turkmen and Baloch.
Of imaginary territories
Linked to predominantly nomadic societies, the carpet has been part of human life since time immemorial, with finds dating back to centuries before Christ. For the Turkish-Iranian tribes, in particular, carpet weaving has become a real art form, as well as a mere business, forever raising the level of this craft. Still renowned today, the Afghan carpets are still strongly linked to their origins, allowing a great variety within Afghanistan itself. In general, however, we can distinguish two families: the Turkmen and the Baloch.
3 Afghan carpets
We specify immediately that, although the universe of Afghan carpets is much larger, we will be forced to treat only 3 of them for reasons of time and accuracy of information. Only of these 3 we were able to find information we considered valid to explain the difference between these types (of course we could go back to dealing with them in the future). In any case, both share a very particular characteristic: being born in a territory straddling several states. The Turkmen of Afghanistan, in fact, are semi-nomadic, while Balochistan is an area shared with Pakistan and Iran.
Khal Mohammadi
Woven by the Turkmen in Northern Afghanistan, it is sometimes knotted in Pakistan due to the mobile nature of its manufacturers. It tends to be dark red in color and has the characteristic göls and octagons for reasons. The material, like most of the Afghan carpets, is wool; however, camel skin is highly appreciated, especially for prayer ones.
Afghan Aqche
Also produced in the North by the Turkmen, very similar to Khal Mohammadi, it stands out mainly for more subtle reasons than the previous one.
Beluci
Small in size, with lively or prayer motifs. The colors tend to be red, brown and dark blue. It is usually made of wool or wool mixed with goat hair, the more recent ones, however, are often made of cotton.
Most of these carpets are sold in the bazaars of Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat; Afghan craftsmanship, however, is often of high quality and treasures can be found even in the most unexpected places.
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