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Located in Azerbaijan’s south-west, the region of Garabagh encompasses the moun-
tainous area and the valley. The Arabic historians like Al-Muqaddasi, Al-Masudi report
of this area as a large carpet hub since the X century onwards. In the XIX century,
Garabagh was playing a leading role in Azerbaijan’s carpet production. Shortly prior to
this, in 1750, Panakhali-Khan, ruler of the Garabagh Khanate (Duchy), founded the town
of Panakhabad (Shusha) which was destined to grow into a recognized center for carpet
production in the South Caucasus since the very outset. While studying the Shusha car-
pet works of that period, the Russian researcher Y. Zadgenidze mentioned that the Azer-
baijani town of Shusha was second to none in the Caucasus in terms of quantity and
quality of carpets and palases manufactured. He wrote: “…almost all carpet production
in Shusha is concentrated in the tartar (i.e. Azerbaijani) households, and this reveals the
historic and social roots of this phenomenon…”
The Garabagh carpet school embraces about 50 various compositions, some of them de-
veloped as a result of interpretation of certain Tabriz patterns, such as
Godja, Achma-
yumma
,
Balyq
,
etc. In the past, places like Jabrayil, Khanlyg, Lenberan, Gubadly, Barda,
Aghdam, Dovshanly, Minkend, Chanakhly, Baghyrbeyli, Muradkhanly and others were
also known for substantial carpet production. The local carpets feature diversity of com-
positions, geometric vegetal elements and bright eye-catching colors. Vegetal motifs to-
gether with large lozenge-shaped medallions are widely used in the ornaments. In the
meantime, the region was also known for a large number of pictorial carpets, such as
Atly-itly, Pahlivan, Shir
.
Besides this, Garabagh produced a number of cut-pile rugs like
kilim, zili
,
verni
,
etc.
Dast-khaly-gebe
carpet set consisting of 3-5 pieces was among Garabagh’s signature
works. Carpets of this region are known for their large size (up to 25-30 square meters).
Spacious local residential premises with large oblong rooms were among the major rea-
sons for this.
Khaly
,
the middle work of the set, was both long and wide, flanked with
two narrower carpets (gebe-kenary) to the left and right. The whole composition was
crowned by kalleyi, completing the oblong rectangle of the floor.
The Garabagh school of carpets includes the following compositions:
Barda, Khangar-
vand, Godja, Buynuz, Daranur, Achma-yumma, Shabalytbuta, Lamberan, Khantirme,
Malybeyli, Lampa, Bulut, Baghchadaguller, Nalbakigul, Khanlyg, Garagoyunlu,
Gubadly, Gasymushaghy, Bahmanly, Mughanly, Talysh,
etc.
Due to the exceptional quality of the local wool, the Garabagh carpets feature a high,
thick and fluffy pile. Density varies from 30x30 to 40x40 knots per square decimeter,
which is equal to 90-160 thousand knots in a square meter. Meanwhile carpets with 200
thousand knots per square meter were not uncommon. Thick pile and colorful composi-
tions convey the message of Garabagh’s abundant nature.