Bakhtiari Rug

The Bakhtiari rug, along with other weavings, is a major artform of the Bakhtiari tribe, located in Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, Iran.^[1][2] They have been weaving rugs exported around the globe since the early 19th century. While originally woven by nomadic Bakhtiari,^[3] most authentic Bakhtiari rugs are woven in Bakhtiari settled communities in west central Iran southwest of Isfahan, Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari and parts of the provinces of Isfahan, Lorestan, and eastern Khuzestan, most notably in the town of Shahr-Kurd.^[4] Bakhtiari rugs were also known after their place of origin, such as Saman or Hureh (Hori).^[4] However, Bakhtiari patterns are copied in other weaving centers in Iran, Pakistan, India and China; so that a place name came to be used to refer to the place of origin of the pattern and quality of the rug, rather than to its place of actual manufacture. Saman and Hori are now regarded as grades of Bakhtiari rugs, rather than as geographical terms.