Birjand handwoven carpet

Introduction to Birjand handwoven carpet

Birjand city is located in the east of Iran and is the capital of South Khorasan province. Birjand carpet has its own characteristics in terms of design, color and texture structure, which we will briefly review in this article. The small fish design of the carpet of this region is world famous, and in terms of originality, beauty and price, it is considered among the valuable and relatively expensive carpets. In the following, we will discuss the details of the small fish carpet.

Geographical features of Birjand

Birjand city, located in the east of Iran, is the capital of South Khorasan province. As a border city, Birjand borders Afghanistan in the eastern region. The weather in most areas of this city is hot and dry, and in the mountainous areas, it is moderate.

Background of carpet weaving in Birjand

"Torej Johle" the author of the book "Research on Iranian Carpets" believes that without a doubt the history of carpet weaving in Birjand goes back to very distant years. Although this matter is not mentioned in the historical books, due to the special geographical location of Birjand, as well as the attention and efforts of the rulers of this city, it is unlikely that the history of carpet weaving in Birjand is less than other cities of Khorasan. Based on the conducted researches, it is possible to attribute a history of at least two hundred years to today's Birjand carpet. According to these studies, the background of carpet weaving in some villages of Birjand is even more than this. Areas such as "Derakhsh" and "Moud" are the oldest and most famous carpet weaving areas around Birjand, and their carpets have a very high reputation. These two areas are among the oldest carpet weaving areas in eastern Iran and southern Khorasan. In fact, there is no evidence to prove the existence of carpet weaving in Birjand before 1270 AH. The revival of the art of carpet weaving in Birjand and its surrounding areas happened quickly, and Birjand handwoven carpets were at the peak of their fame between 1310 and 1320 AH. Despite its uniform designs, the Birjand carpet was of good quality at that time and was superior to many other carpet weaving areas in Khorasan. With the start of World War II and the collapse of European markets, Birjand carpets also faced a decrease in exports, and after that, woven carpets faced a sharp drop in terms of quality and even production quantity. But since 1330 AH and due to the efforts of people like Aziz Mohammad Zahraei, Abdul Hamid Jamshidi, Dr. Abdul Ali Ahmadi and others, who were producers and traders of high-quality hand-woven carpets in Birjand, the situation changed. At the same time, one of the famous traders and manufacturers of Birjand carpets named Haj Hossein Amini, worked hard to create world fame for Birjand carpets.

The high and low years of carpet weaving in Birjand

The process of handwoven carpet production in Birjand can be analyzed in three time periods:  
1. The years before 1300 AD to 1300 AD, which is the time of weaving good and premium carpets in this region, and examples of these premium carpets still remain.  
2. Years 1300 to around 1322 AH, during this period, due to the outbreak of the Second World War and its consequences, despite the production of high-quality carpets in areas such as Mod and the city of Birjand itself, there was a certain stagnation and confusion in the situation of the export and sale of carpets. This area was created.  
3. From around 1330 AD onwards, the era of prosperity and revival of Birjand carpet began. That is, with the beginning of the activities of weavers and elite artists, Birjand hand-woven carpet gradually gained its fame in the past years and was able to find a relatively good position in the sales market of European and even American countries.

The most prominent carpet weaving centers in Birjand

The fabric areas of Birjand include the central part and the cities of Madhim, Sarbisheh, Nehbandan, Khosuf and Qain. Dorkhesh and Maud are the oldest and most famous carpet weaving areas in the suburbs of Birjand and are among the oldest carpet weaving areas in eastern Iran and southern Khorasan. The best and most authentic Khorasan carpets are woven in Derakhsh. Its small production, both in the past and now, has many fans in domestic and foreign markets.  
Designs and patterns in Birjand carpet  
The designs used in the city carpet, including two types of motifs specific to the region; including Saadi and Rize Mahi designs, as well as motifs adapted from other regions such as Sheikh Safi, Lakh and Taranj designs, Shah Abbasi, Khashti, Mahramat, Bete Jaqah in several types, tree and forest, Mehrabi and Sajjada, horse head and many other designs. Is. Of these, Rize Mahi carpets account for about 50-60%, followed by clay design, about 30-35% of the region's production. One of the most famous carpet weaving designs in this region is Saadi Lakh and Tanraj, which is also known as "Saadi Quarter". This type of carpet is mostly woven in Derakhsh village.

The pattern of small fish or tangled fish in the Birjand carpet

Durham fish is a beautiful, long-lasting and popular dish in the world markets, which has its roots in ancient Iranian culture. Because this design became popular in the Timurid period and in Herat, the artistic and political center of that period, and a large number of royal designs, both in carpets and in architecture, were formed with this design; It is also known as the Herati plan. The basis of the Heratian maps are two fishes that surround a large (usually eight-petaled) flower. Experts believe that this role is related to ancient Iran and the Mehr ritual. In the seal religion, it is believed that the seal (Mithra) was born in water. For this reason, in the works of this ritual, Mehr is depicted as a child on a water lotus and coming out of the water by two dolphins. The overall design of the tangled fish comes from repeating the main motif and joining them together. From the symmetrical repetition of four intertwined fish motifs, a rhombus pattern called "carousel" is formed in the middle. Usually, at the top and bottom of each merry-go-round, there is a pattern that is from the family of motifs of lotus or fan palm. The rhombus pattern can be considered as a symbol of the pond and the eight-petaled flower in the middle can also be considered as a lotus symbol. Naqshmaye Mahi Darham is famous in Birjand as "Rizeh Mahi". The structure of the pattern in Rize Mahi carpets in Birjand and its surrounding areas can be classified into two main groups: the general pattern and the Lakh and Taranj patterns. Designs such as lozenge lace and rhombus lace and eight-pointed star lace and lace were woven in this region for only a decade and today they are out of the production process. However, there are two designs that are completely contagious, elastic, and solar bergamot, which have been repeated for many decades with a long history and have remained until today and have even become one of the best-selling designs.

The texture of "Derham fish" became common in all regions of Iran

In addition to Birjand and its surrounding areas, other cities also weave carpets with the pattern of fish, which include the following: Saroq, Farahan, Arak, Sane (Sanandaj), Bijar, Hamadan, Zanjan, Tabriz, Khoi, Mashhad. and the Qashqai tribe. But the Birjand fish carpet has a special reputation and prestige.

Color scheme in Birjand carpet

The number of colors used in the carpet of the city is between twelve and fifteen colors, which in local terms are known as Laki (red), Tegh Laki (jagri), Golkhar (pink), Masi (medium blue), Doghi (light blue), Azure (blue). dark), grassy (green), alder (light green), onion (orange), walnut (muddy green), carob (cream), pistachio, heli (earthy), chocolate, copper, steel (grey), camel (light brown) ), and blue (dark brown) are famous.

Raw materials used in Birjand carpets

The raw materials of weaving include wool, cotton and silk. Wool is used for knitting and cotton for warp thread, thin weft and thick weft. Silk is mostly decorative and is used in limited cases.

Technical characteristics of tissue

Count: Most hand-woven carpets in Birjand often have a count between 30 and 40, and a maximum of 45 (45 knots per 6.5 square centimeters).  
Knot type: The knot in the carpets of this region is of asymmetrical or Persian type and in pairs (two top threads and two bottom threads are taken for one knot, while in normal carpets one top thread and one bottom thread are taken for each knot. will be).  
Shiraze weaving: Shiraze weaving is done in all the carpets in Birjand and its surrounding areas during weaving.  
Finishing and finishing: Finishing of hand-woven carpets is currently done in this area after finishing the weaving, using electric scissors.  
Type of carpet dar: old carpet weaving dars in Birjand and its surrounding areas in the past were in the form of vertical and movable dars, completely similar to the dars of Kerman region (bowed). Currently, in Birjand, the same movable vertical gallows are used, but without bows.  
Chelekshi: The type of chelekshi in Birjand and its surrounding areas is in accordance with the texture of this region, in the Persian way.  
Carpet weaving: The type of carpet weaving at the beginning and end of the carpet is in Persian style and using thick weft in all the carpets of this region.  
Type of weft: Currently, Birjand carpets are two-weft type (one thin weft and one thick weft in each row of weaving). The method of three folds of one weft is also one of the old features of Birjand carpet. This method is done in such a way that the thin weft is drawn instead of each row, after the completion of all three rows. In the past, Birjand woven urban carpets were mostly in the group of half-loop carpets in terms of weaving mechanism, but nowadays they are mostly loop-woven. At the same time, the type of rural carpets woven in this region follow the style of a single weft (a thick weft after each row of weaving).

Common dimensions in Birjand handwoven carpets

Common dimensions for the production of handwoven carpets in Birjand and its surrounding areas are currently 6, 9, and 12 square meters. The texture of carpets with smaller dimensions such as rugs and zare and nim are not very common in this region at the moment. But in the past and often in the villages in this region, especially in Mod and Derakhsh, they have been very famous in terms of carpet texture in the dimensions of carpets.

Famous Birjand carpet designers and weavers

In its history of carpet weaving, the city of Birjand has a collection of the largest carpet manufacturers in the south of Khorasan. Mirza Ali Derakhshi, Sharq Birjand Company with shareholders such as Ebrahim Alam and Amir Asdalah Alam, Mohammad Reza Sepehri, Shahzad Motazadi, Marghobi, Abdul Ali Ahmadi, Abdul Majid Jamshidi, Haj Qasim Khamenei, Gholam Hossein Sagham, Asadi, Abul Qasim Malik, Gholam Reza Bazargan, Farsad, and more famous than All of Haj Hossein Amini are one of the most famous masters and producers of Birjand carpets from the past to the present. Also, among the old carpet designers in Birjand region, Hossein Saadi, Ostad Aziz Mohammad Zahraei and Jamshid Maud are very famous and reliable. Mohammad Karim Kermani and Mohammad Mohsen Lotfi are other old designers of Birjand. Currently, Mohammad Ali Samimi is the most active and prominent designer of Birjand carpet today.

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