Qashqai

Qashqai rugs, also written Ghashghai, belong among the most significant nomadic rugs of Persia. They come from the Qashqai confederation, an alliance of Turkic-speaking tribes in the southern Iranian province of Fars around the city of Shiraz. Characteristic are a central medallion or diamonds scattered across the field, vigorous natural colours and a firm, long-lived wool knotting. Within the Persian tribal knotting tradition, Qashqai rugs count as the finest representatives and at the same time as sought-after collector's pieces.

What is a Qashqai rug?

A Qashqai rug is a hand-knotted rug of the Qashqai nomads from the province of Fars in the south of Iran. Unlike manufactory rugs from Isfahan or Nain, the pattern follows no drawn cartoon but arises from the weaver's memory. From this come the typical small irregularities and the lively character. Material, dyeing and motif vocabulary are rooted in the migratory culture of the tribes, which is why the Qashqai counts among the most authentic nomadic rugs at all.

The term denotes both the knottings of the individual tribes of the confederation and a whole style family. The confederation includes several sub-tribes, among them the Kashkuli, whose finer pieces are traded separately under Kashkuli. Anyone wanting to place a Qashqai therefore always considers the particular piece and not the name alone.

Origin

The Qashqai are an alliance of Turkic-speaking nomadic tribes who have lived for centuries in the province of Fars. Their language, an Oghuz Turkic dialect, points to an origin in Central Asia, from where the tribes presumably reached southern Persia during the Middle Ages. For generations they migrated in spring from the winter pastures in the warmer lowland to the summer pastures in the high valleys of the Zagros mountains. This seasonal migration, the kuch, shaped their entire world and thus also the rug knotting.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries the confederation was a significant political power in southern Persia under its khans. From this period come many of the antique pieces especially valued today. The main knotting areas lie around Shiraz and extend across wide parts of the Fars province. Shiraz was at the same time the central trading place through which the goods entered the trade, which is why Qashqai rugs were earlier often sold simply as Shiraz rugs. From the 20th century onwards, the increasing settlement of many families led to a more strongly commercial production in fixed workshops, without the handed-down patterns being lost.

Patterns and colours

The best-known Qashqai format shows one or several tiered diamond medallions on a densely filled field. Alongside stand the so-called all-over patterns, in which small diamonds, stars and hooks are evenly scattered across the entire surface. Characteristic is the dense filling of the ground with scatter motifs: stylised animals, birds, flowers, combs and the curved boteh, known in the West as paisley. These small signs condense into a lively, almost narrative overall image.

A widespread structural motif is the Herati repeat, which covers the field with small leaf rosettes. The borders usually consist of several narrow bands with geometric vines, often with a main border of stylised flowers. The colour spectrum is dominated by a saturated madder red and deep indigo blue, supported by warm yellow, natural white wool and accents in green, rust and brown. The colours feel earth-bound and harmonious, since they were traditionally obtained from plants and minerals. A slight abrash, that is, a colour shift through differently dyed wool batches, is not counted as a defect in tribal rugs but as a mark of authenticity.

Material and knotting technique

The base material is high-quality sheep's wool from the tribes' own flocks, used for warp, weft and pile. The wool from the Zagros mountains counts as particularly lanolin-rich and hard-wearing, which gives the Qashqai its longevity. It is traditionally hand-spun and dyed with natural colours from madder, indigo, walnut husks and other plants. More on the fibres is given in the overview of materials and on virgin wool.

The Qashqai is knotted with the asymmetric knot, also called the Senneh knot or Persian knot. This knot type allows somewhat more flowing contours than the symmetric knot and is typical of Persian provenances. How the knot types differ is explained in the article on knot types; the whole sequence from warping to shearing is set out under production. The weave is firm and compact with a medium pile height. The lateral edges are wrapped with coloured wool; the fringes consist of the natural extension of the warp threads. Often the rug closes at the ends with a narrow kilim strip, a flat-woven band without pile.

Knot density and quality

The knot density of a Qashqai typically lies between 80,000 and 200,000 knots per square metre. Finer pieces, for example from the group of the Kashkuli, can lie above, while coarser tribal qualities also begin below. Density alone, however, says little about quality. Just as important are wool quality, cleanness of the dyeing, clarity of the drawing and the overall craft impression. How knot density bears on quality and price is treated in detail in its own article.

A good Qashqai shows a glossy, lanolin-rich wool, saturated colours without garish tones, and an even but not machine-like knotting. Antique pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries count as the finest representatives and achieve correspondingly high prices.

Qashqai compared with related tribes

Provenance	Relation to Qashqai	Typical features
Qashqai	umbrella term of the confederation	diamond medallion, dense scatter motifs, lanolin-rich wool
Kashkuli	sub-tribe of the confederation	more finely knotted, often more elegant drawing
Shiraz	neighbouring trade region	more rustic, coarser weave, related motifs
Abadeh	neighbouring town in Fars	clearer medallion, more geometric, often manufactory
Yalameh	related tribe in Fars	luminous diamonds, strongly geometric
Afshar	tribal rug from Kerman	geometric, boteh and Harshang, different region

What is a Qashqai rug worth?

The value of a Qashqai depends on age, condition, size, knot density, wool quality, dyeing and the precise tribal attribution. Antique pieces with natural dyeing, glossy wool and a clear drawing achieve the highest prices and count as sought-after collector's items. Younger tribal and workshop qualities are more affordable, but as hand-knotted nomadic rugs they hold their value better than industrial goods.

Because this is a coveted provenance, reproductions from other regions are also to be found in the trade. For a grounded estimate see recognising valuable Persian rugs, the general value overview and the buying guide.

How do you recognise a genuine Qashqai rug?

Reliable indicators of a genuine Qashqai are:

• Wool on wool: warp, weft and pile classically consist of hand-spun sheep's wool; the warp is only rarely cotton.
• Asymmetric knot: the Qashqai uses the Persian Senneh knot, readable on the back.
• Dense scatter motifs: the field is filled with small diamonds, stars, animals and boteh; the pattern looks hand-drawn, not stencil-like.
• Natural dyeing and abrash: saturated madder and indigo tones and slight colour shifts speak for a handcraft origin.
• Fringes from the warp: the fringes are the extended warp threads, often with a kilim finish, not sewn on afterwards.
• Lanolin-rich, glossy wool with a firm, slightly irregular handle.

Because the individual tribes work differently, pattern, material, back and condition should always be judged together. A step-by-step guide is given in Is my rug genuine?; for regional attribution see identifying origin.

Care

Thanks to the robust, lanolin-rich wool, Qashqai rugs are easy to care for and suited to heavily used rooms. Regular vacuuming in the pile direction and occasional professional cleaning preserve the quality. Lift stains immediately with clear water, without rubbing. Long direct sunlight bleaches the colours and should be avoided. Detailed notes are given in the care overview.