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The old bazaar in the ancient city of Shiraz
in southern Persia, Iran.
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People travel for hundreds of miles
to trade here.
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Some come from small villages
up in the Zagros mountains,
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some live in Shiraz itself.
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And occasionally you see a woman
from one of the nomad tribes
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striding through the crowd unveiled
and with little regard
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to the decorous conventions
of the Muslim townsfolk.
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This is a market above all for carpets.
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No one, I suppose, has any accurate idea
of how many carpets there are for sale here,
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there must be hundreds of thousands.
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But one thing is certain,
no two are the same.
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All are made by hand.
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Some, like this one, are turned out in quantity
from small town workshops.
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They're well made and hard... wearing,
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but this one, at any rate, lacks any
particular distinction or inspiration.
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Ah, now this looks a bit better.
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- This... This is a... Shiraz, huh?
- Shiraz.
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Yes, this is, this is a rug from a village
in this part of the world.
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Nice, but when you look at it in detail
these colours here, that orange,
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that rather harsh orange
and a rather acid green.
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Those are dyes that are modern
and produced quite recently.
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So this is a newish sort of rug.
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(Speaking Arabic)
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Ah! But this is altogether different.
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- Shiraz, huh?
- Shiraz.
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This, the colours here are glowing
and warm and subtle and vibrant.
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These are wools that have been dyed
with vegetable dyes
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gathered from the mountains.
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And the designs, well,
there are little men and birds,
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and this is not a rug that was produced
in a factory somewhere for sale.
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This rug from these designs here,
was produced by a woman,
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a tribal woman working in her tent.
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This is a rug made by the nomads
who still today migrate
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across this part of southern Persia.
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The nomads are a mysterious
and ferociously independent people.
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For as long as history has been recorded,
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they've been wandering across
these harsh, stony lands.
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Farmers resent them,
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for they drive their herds down valleys
as they have always done,
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regardless as to whether or not someone
has tried to irrigate and cultivate fields there.
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Police and the military harass them and try to
make them stop their wanderings and settle,
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so that they can labelled, administered,
taxed and controlled.
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But still they persist in travelling,
driving their flocks before them.
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They spend the summer in the sweet pastures
10,000 feet up in the mountains.
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In winter, those meadows
may be under two feet of snow,
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so now, as in every autumn,
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they start on the long journey down to their
winter camping ground on the lowland plains.
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And as they travel, they spin.
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They carry all their belongings with them.
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A few have left behind them in the mountains
a meadow planted with grain
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that will sprout in the spring
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and can be harvested soon after
the people return to the mountains in May.
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But most have left nothing behind them,
except a traditional right to a camping ground.
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They take all their possessions with them,
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their tents loaded on donkeys,
their provisions in saddle bags,
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and their main wealth, their herds,
driven before them.
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The women of the tribe play a forceful
and independent part in this wandering world.
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Indeed, one clan was once ruled by a woman.
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And far from dressing in the reticent,
modest black worn by townswomen,
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they rejoice in colour and delight and display.
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And it's the women who weave
from the wool of their flocks
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the rugs which make their black tents
glow with colour.
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A finely made carpet may have
300, even 400 knots in a square inch.
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Say, a quarter of a million
in a carpet six feet long.
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And each of them is individually tied.
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Each tribe has its own patterns.
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Some are clearly representational...
birds and animals and flowers.
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0thers are so geometric that their identity
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is known only from the traditions
of the weavers
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and sometimes has been forgotten
even by them.
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All are as individual and distinctive to a group
as a tartan used to be to a highland clan.
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The quality of wool varies.
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The coarsest comes from flocks grazing
the pastures of the lowlands,
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the silkiest from those that live on
the high stony mountains.
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The younger an animal is, the softer its fleece.
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And the finest wool of all
is found only on the underside of the body.
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So a skilful weaver who knows the animals
in her flocks individually
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and can select her wool with care and affection,
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can produce a rug
which for the silkiness of its sheen,
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the subtlety of its colours
and the fineness of its knotting,
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draw the admiration of all.
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For centuries, rugs like these
have been brought to Europe overland
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by camel caravan from central Asia,
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or shipped across the Mediterranean
to the great centres of oriental trade,
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like Venice, from which they were
distributed all over Europe.
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And they've been coming to Europe
since the Middle Ages.
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This rug was used in Henry VIII's time
and painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein.
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Fifty years earlier in Italy,
Carlo Crivelli painted an annunciation
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and over the balcony balustrade
above the Virgin hung two rugs,
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that, to judge from their patterns,
must have been woven
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on the western frontiers of the 0rient in Turkey.
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Priests careless or ignorant perhaps
of the infidel origin of oriental rugs,
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spread them on the floors of their churches.
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And statesmen took pride
in being painted standing upon them.
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This is George Washington.
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In fact, tribal rugs may well be
the first examples of exotic art
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to be widely appreciated by the West.
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They travelled eastwards too, to China.
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This silken scroll was painted in the early
13th century and the rug it illustrates
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may well have come from the kingdom
of Genghis Khan in Mongolia.
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The nomads themselves use
their knotted fabrics for all kinds of purposes.
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All these pieces come from one tribe
and could have been found in one tent.
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0n the floor, rugs in rich variety,
to take the chill form the frozen ground.
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This one with a lovely pattern in blue and red
just has one tiny white rosette there.
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It's said that such little spots are there
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because if they were not,
the carpet would be symmetrical,
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to be symmetrical is to be perfect,
to be perfect is an attribute only of God
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and therefore to try and make
symmetrical things is almost a blasphemy.
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That's probably just a story,
but what is absolutely certain
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is that that little one white spot sets off
most marvellously the rhythm of the design.
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And here on the walls, panels of pile carpet
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which would be hang on the flank,
of a great man's camel,
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a Khan's camel.
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And these camel bags with tassels
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which would carry the goods of the family
and once in the tent would serve as cushions.
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This is a door screen
which would be hung over the doorway.
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Here, another particular piece
for a particular purpose,
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a spindle bag with spindles in it.
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And this is a superb example of a nomadic rug.
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Lovely rugs like this used to be called
in the West, "Royal Bukharas"
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and this design called an elephant's foot.
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That just shows how little we knew
of the people who made these lovely things,
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because Bukhara is not the name of a tribe
or a people,
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it's the name of a town where caravans call
and where nomads come to sell their carpets.
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Royal is a pure invention.
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Elephant's foot also has nothing to do
with these designs.
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These designs are stylised flowers and are used
as the crest of this tribe who made them,
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the tribe of the Turkmen.
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When they wove those splendid pieces
they were nomads.
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Today they've been settled into towns
and few weave such beautiful rugs any more.
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But some groups still migrate every year
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and still resist all attempts
to make them settle in villages
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and the most determinedly independent
of them, are the Qashqai.
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All but the poorest Qashqai women
have donkeys to ride.
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Some even have horses
handsomely decorated with woven trappings.
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The grandest make their migrations
on a milk... white camel
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and they all take pride
in wearing extravagant petticoats,
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no matter how hot, how cumbersome,
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and how generally unsuited they might seem
to a nomadic life.
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It's 0ctober. The high pastures
have been cropped heavily all summer
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and up there it's getting cold.
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So for the past two weeks this Qashqai clan
has been travelling down towards the coast.
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It's now past midday,
it's hot and blindly chokingly dusty.
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The clan must stop in the afternoon
and make camp.
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It hasn't rained here for months
and it certainly won't rain tonight.
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There's little need to put up a tent to keep dry.
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Indeed, the purpose of the tent is mainly
to provide shade from the savage sun.
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So making camp means little more than taking
the burdens from the camels and donkeys
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and preparing an evening meal.
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There's not time to set up a loom
and start weaving
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in a camp that will only be occupied
for a single night,
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but there's always time for spinning.
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The Qashqai were once among
the most warlike of the Persian nomads.
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They were magnificent horsemen
and sensational marksmen.
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Some raided the settled villages,
others preyed upon the caravans.
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0ver the last 50 years there were several
pitched battles with the army.
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And at one time, they were forcibly settled
into villages under military governors.
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But today there's a new tolerance
between them and the government
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and the Qashqai continue to migrate
each season, peaceably.
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But pride persists and bravado
and horsemanship are inseparable.
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The Qashqai tribe is in fact
a collection of smaller clans.
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There are the Shish Baluki, the Amala,
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the Darrah Shuri and these,
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the Kashkuli.
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In past times, each could be recognised
by the ways that they dressed,
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the manner of tying a belt or wearing a hat,
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the jewellery the women wore
and the kind of textiles they wove.
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0n the 300... mile journey,
some of the ewes drop lambs.
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They're too young to keep up
with the trotting flock,
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so the shepherds collect them and carry them.
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Now in the evening, their mothers
are summoned by the bleats of their young,
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so that they can provide
an evening meal of milk.
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Four o'clock the next morning.
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The last of the flocks
is the leaving the campsite,
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most left two hours earlier in the pitch dark,
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so that the greater part of their day's march
can be completed
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before the sun rises too high in the sky.
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Five o'clock and everyone is ready to move.
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Each group is in the charge of a head man
who is responsible to his Khan for its safety.
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He planned the route and last night
he decided where they should stop.
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This morning he has
to start them moving again.
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0ne family, travelling ahead of the main group,
had spent three days on this site,
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resting themselves and their flocks.
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They too will now continue with the others
and have to pack up the goat's hair tent
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which gave them shelter from the sun
during their stay.
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The young have their special saddle bags.
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Textiles are everywhere.
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Saddle bags and storage sacks,
felt for everyday use
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and each family has perhaps half a dozen
finely knotted carpets,
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that have brought colour onto the dusty ground
and now serve as covers for the loads.
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The group is now 50 miles south of Shiraz
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and starting its way down the gorge
through the mountains
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that lead to the ancient ruined
town of Firuzabad.
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Nomads have been travelling through this gap
through the mountains for a thousand years.
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And even then the route was an old one.
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0n the rock wall of the gorge,
a frieze carved in the 2nd century AD
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showing the investiture of Ardashir,
king of kings, ruler of the Sassanian Empire,
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which for 400 years held sway over Persia.
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Nor were the Sassanians
the first great dynasty to rule here.
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700 years before them,
in the 5th century BC,
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the first great empire the world has seen
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had its capital only 150 miles
away at Persepolis.
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At its peak, it stretched from
the Greek islands to India,
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from the steps of central Asia to Ethiopia,
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00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:57,191
and in this great palace, the emperors
Darius and the Xerxes were crowned.
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And every year, at the great spring festival,
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tribute was brought from all parts
of this immense territory
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to be formerly presented to the emperor.
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And here are the processions
carved on the palace walls.
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A court official leads each delegation
by the hand and they come bearing pots,
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and here a textile of some kind
with an elaborate tassel and fringe.
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Could it perhaps be a carpet?
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00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:29,710
A humpback bull, another court official,
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more gifts,
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and here, the skin of a sheep or a goat
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and another piece of fabric.
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The rams that may well have provided the wool
from which the fabric was woven,
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and here true nomads,
from somewhere up in the north,
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heavily armed and leading a horse.
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Its mane and its tail
decorated in a particular way,
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a way that is echoed
on the oldest pile rug in the world.
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It was made at about the time
Persepolis itself was built
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and was found in the tomb of a nomad
buried 2,000 miles away,
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on the borders of outer Mongolia.
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It may well be an example
of the kind of tribute
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00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,839
that was presented to the emperors
at Persepolis
227
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,959
and is powerful evidence that knotted carpets
were invented in this part of the world.
228
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,797
Five weeks of journeying
are coming to an end.
229
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,556
This last dusty slope
leads down to the plain of Farashban
230
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,633
that is one of the Qashqai's traditional
winter camping grounds.
231
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,390
Several groups are already here
and have set up their black tents
232
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,792
which for many are the most substantial homes
they will ever have.
233
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:30,478
The only concession to permanence
is a flimsy palisade of cane
234
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,552
and sometimes a low wall of stones
which does a little
235
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:38,236
to break the force of the wind
and deflect the dust that it carries.
236
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,076
(Speaking Arabic)
237
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,234
(Cock crows)
238
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,998
Now the looms can be set up again.
239
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,198
Knotted carpets are only one of the textiles
that the women make.
240
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,115
This loom is for a flat weave called a kilim,
which is used as a cover sheet.
241
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:28,309
And there are other kinds too with which the
women make saddle bags and spindle bags.
242
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,638
Weaving is entirely the work of women.
243
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,393
A girl will start when she is ten or younger,
244
00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,917
and she will be tying knots
right to the end her life.
245
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,438
The men only occasionally occupy themselves
with household chores.
246
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,071
Their main concern that takes precedence
over all else, is with their flocks.
247
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:31,439
Every day, goats and sheep and camels
must be driven down in groups to water
248
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:36,071
and then return to their pastures
to make way for others.
249
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,310
The process of knotting is so lengthy
250
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,996
that it may take two or three Qashqai women
as much as five or six years
251
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,958
to make a relatively small rug like this one.
252
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,396
And that means that this rug,
during the course of its making,
253
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,836
will have been on ten or twelve
migratory journeys,
254
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:17,038
each time its loom would have to have been
dismantled, rolled up,
255
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,749
put on the back of a camel,
transported and then re... established.
256
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:25,356
And when you do that it's very difficult
to get the tension on the warp threads
257
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,317
exactly the same every time,
258
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:32,713
and if you don't do that then you don't end up
with a geometrically regular rug.
259
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,839
So this rug like many nomadic rugs
is bowed at the end here
260
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,436
and it won't sit absolutely flatly
on a geometrically flat floor,
261
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,751
but then of course there aren't many
geometrically flat floors
262
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:46,910
on Qashqai camping grounds.
263
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,152
The colours all are vegetable colours
and come from plants
264
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,119
that the Qashqai would encounter
on their migratory journeys,
265
00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,639
madda and henna, walnut juice,
juice from the rinds of pomegranates.
266
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:08,114
There are many of them but they all seem to
harmonise miraculously, one with the other.
267
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,155
Of course you don't buy your wool
268
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,471
if you're a nomad from a factory
in one large lot
269
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:19,031
or indeed carry it around with you
for the five years that it takes to make a carpet.
270
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:25,434
You shear it from your own flock in season
and dye it in batches as you need it.
271
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:32,517
But that means that there's a slight variation
in the tone of each batch of a particular colour
272
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,797
which gives the carpet a sort of shimmer.
273
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,519
Sometimes it's even more extreme than that.
274
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,674
Here at the end, the woman who made this
had been putting this blue in the central field
275
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,718
and just before she finished,
she run out of that blue
276
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,999
and had to get another one,
which is a much brighter one, here.
277
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:58,315
But perhaps more important than the shimmer
and the slight irregularity
278
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:03,679
is the fact that each one of these
has a sort of personal quality.
279
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:08,834
For these were not made
for sale anonymously in a bazaar,
280
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:14,517
these were made by individual
groups of women for their own tents.
281
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,910
So each has the stamp of a personality on it,
282
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,673
each was made with a particular purpose in mind
283
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,309
perhaps to take as a special present
to a wedding,
284
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,356
for your husband... to... be.
285
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,829
(Drumming, horn playing)
286
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,193
A girl from one of the nomad families
is to marry.
287
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,511
Not a man from her own group,
but one belonging to a family
288
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:01,195
that generations back, settled down
in this ancient village
289
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,192
not far from the nomads winter quarters.
290
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:13,199
The bridegroom's family have feasting
and dancing for the past two days
291
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,555
in preparation for the bride's arrival.
292
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:19,030
The village is an oasis of shade
and trickling water.
293
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,476
Here grow huge plane trees
and majestic walnuts
294
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,269
beside the cool stream flowing from
a never... failing spring.
295
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,238
Rugs have been spread for the guests.
296
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,035
People have assembled from both families
297
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,510
and the bridegroom's parents
are lavish with their hospitality.
298
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,831
There are rice, pilaffs
flavoured with pomegranate seeds,
299
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:54,436
mutton stew, morsels of goat's meat
spitted on skewers and roasted,
300
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:59,640
pistachio nuts, watermelons
and always chai... tea.
301
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,433
And all day the women dance.
302
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:45,358
The stick dance of the men, a game in which
you take turns to swipe at one another's legs.
303
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,159
It's a challenge to manhood,
one of the Khans explained,
304
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:53,712
and when an old man hears the sound
of the shom his legs just won't stay still.
305
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,916
The nomad men
are not strangers to village life.
306
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,357
Many have relations here
and today, another link is to be made.
307
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,955
These are the bonds rather than the force
of the police or the army
308
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:16,999
that sometimes persuade
a Qashqai to settle.
309
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:53,958
The bridegroom. Before the bride arrives
he must be ceremonially shaved.
310
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:31,713
Another party, the last
from the bride's family, has arrived.
311
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:35,156
The bride herself must now be on her way.
312
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,595
And here is the bride...
not on a camel or a white steed
313
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,355
but in a truck sent out from the village
to collect her.
314
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:56,991
She's heavily veiled, the only time
that a nomadic girl must be so concealed.
315
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:41,592
She has brought with her a dowry...
fine clothes, textiles and of course rugs.
316
00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:45,673
She also brings an invisible gift,
the skills of carpet knotting
317
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,469
and the knowledge of her family's
traditional patterns.
318
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:52,996
(Girls singing)
319
00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:03,960
Rugs made in a settled village
can be much bigger
320
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,951
than those by made by travelling people.
321
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,237
For here large, permanent looms
can be set up.
322
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:13,154
The chiefs... the Khans... commission carpets
to go not in tents,
323
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:16,198
but in the more spacious rooms
of their village houses
324
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,398
and even, for the wealthier of them,
in their grand town houses.
325
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,472
And so the women and the girls
spend much of their time
326
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,358
working not on their own individual rugs,
327
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,591
but as one of a group making a large carpet.
328
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,636
Inevitably, personal invention
329
00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:35,759
has to be subordinated
to the greater overall pattern.
330
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,990
Each weaver is responsible
for a short section of the width
331
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:51,110
and she works with one colour at a time,
putting in all the white knots, say, in the line,
332
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,919
before moving on to another colour.
333
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,115
After one or two lines of knots are complete,
334
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:17,113
a thread... the weft... is threaded through
and beaten firm with combs.
335
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,272
This gives the carpet
much of its strength and stability.
336
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,353
Each tribe favours a particular colour,
the Qashqai use pink,
337
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:29,798
and the colour of the weft gives an expert
a clue as to the origin of a carpet.
338
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:46,996
(Girls singing)
339
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,153
Periodically, the pile is trimmed with scissors,
340
00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,198
a process that calls
for the greatest manual skill of all.
341
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:07,035
For unless it's done accurately and evenly,
the carpet will be ruined.
342
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,396
So far these seven girls have been working
for eight hours a day for six months
343
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,436
on this carpet.
344
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,076
0ne of the Khans of this clan of the Qashqai,
the Kashkuli,
345
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,675
entertained me in a pavilion
set up in the grounds of his house.
346
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:25,909
He's a wealthy man.
347
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,790
His younger brother was educated in Shiraz,
where he learned English.
348
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:42,356
We drank the traditional chai together,
exchanged the appropriate courtesies
349
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:46,194
and he invited me to share his water pipe.
350
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:57,318
Is it good?
351
00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,278
Well not very good, but, maybe good.
352
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,031
Thank you.
353
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:11,916
The back of the pavilion
was covered with a kilim, a flat weave.
354
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:13,752
What is underneath?
355
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,430
- It's rice.
- Rice?
356
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:23,873
- Rice.
- Rice.
357
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,712
And these bags?
358
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:29,349
By the ladies? Huh?
359
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,431
- It's wheat.
- Wheat.
360
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,396
- And this, this carpet?
- OK.
361
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:39,914
Is this Kashkuli carpet?
362
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,514
The name is Nazam Kashkuli.
363
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,479
And what, um are these... What is that one?
364
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,191
- That one is flower.
- That is a flower.
365
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:50,713
- Flower.
- Is this another flower?
366
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,110
This is another flower. This another flower.
367
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:55,952
And this?
368
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:03,393
- It's a garden with many flowers.
- Many flowers in a garden.
369
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,109
The garden is a potent symbol
in Persian life.
370
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:12,638
Indeed, our own word paradise is derived from
the Persian word for the walled garden.
371
00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:15,473
It seems to sum up the pleasures
of the settled life...
372
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,757
Flowing water, fruit trees, perfumed roses,
373
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,356
nature under control
and it's a favourite subject for the carpet.
374
00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:27,991
This one was woven in the 18th century,
rectangular channels of water
375
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:33,552
flowing between islands planted
with flowering trees and filled with fish.
376
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:37,269
This is the lure that pulls at a nomad
persuading him to settle,
377
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,510
enticing a girl to marry a villager.
378
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:44,674
Little wonder that women sitting out
in their tents in the hot dusty hills
379
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:49,072
weave its image into their carpets.
380
00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:52,152
- (Man speaking Arabic)
- (David) Oh, a bird.
381
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:56,715
Has that always been in Kashkuli carpets?
382
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,556
- Always in Kashkuli?
- Always in Kashkuli.
383
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,756
Only in Kashkuli, always in Kashkuli.
384
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,115
Ah, I understand.
385
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,876
They were anxious to show me
how many things could be made
386
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,554
from this versatile, hard... wearing material.
387
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,359
- It's sack.
- It's a sack.
388
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,796
- Sack.
- And that is for putting on...
389
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,310
(David) Can I see the other one now?
390
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,429
- Oh, and here.
- It's a sack.
391
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,832
- A sack, but this...
- This is a gazelle.
392
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,230
- A gazelle?
- Gazelle.
393
00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:46,350
And here too, in blue, is that one?
394
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:47,839
- Gazelle.
- Gazelle.
395
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,388
- A blue gazelle.
- Blue gazelles.
396
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:54,029
- And little flowers.
- Flowers, little flowers.
397
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:00,435
The name is mihrab.
398
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:04,312
- It's a name.
- Yeah.
399
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:11,158
Do other people, do the, er...
Shish Baluk make mihrab like that?
400
00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:12,593
(Speaking Arabic)
401
00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:18,835
- No.
- Kashkuli?
402
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:20,956
Only Kashkuli.
403
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:29,358
But though the designs were once
the exclusive property of a particular clan,
404
00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:31,874
those distinctions are breaking down.
405
00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:37,318
In Shiraz a school has been started
to preserve the old weaving techniques.
406
00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:45,549
This old lady once wove kilims
for one of the greatest of the nomads Khans.
407
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,712
Now at the end of her life,
she's making a kilim
408
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:51,268
incorporating all her best designs
409
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,273
so that it may serve as a pattern
for others to copy.
410
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:59,319
The school is run by Bahman Beigi,
himself the son of a nomad
411
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:03,029
who spent his boyhood
in the black tents in the mountains.
412
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:10,435
We're bringing here the experts of the tribes
where this carpet making art
413
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,432
still is alive and they're making good carpets,
414
00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:18,878
the teachers and the...
the students are coming from the tribes
415
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,714
where this habit just does not exist.
416
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:28,670
For example, this Kashkuli, we have Kashkulis
that they're experts in carpet making
417
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:31,115
even among the teachers
you see some Kashkulis.
418
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:37,912
But even in that big tribe, we have little ones,
little sub... tribes that they do not weave.
419
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,472
- So here are four girls from different tribes?
- Yes.
420
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,710
But they're all learning a Kashkuli design?
421
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,030
- Well, that's not the Kashkuli design.
- Which design is that?
422
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,032
That's a Shish Baluki design.
423
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:53,511
So today some girls from nomadic tribes
are learning not their own patterns
424
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:55,670
but those belonging to other groups.
425
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,196
It seems that the rich variety
of nomad carpets must diminish.
426
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:07,517
But a Qashqai girl living in her family's tents,
still gets no formal instruction.
427
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,433
She will simply take her place behind a loom
428
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:15,594
and slowly through her fingers will absorb
the patterns that are her tribal birthright.
429
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:21,073
Patterns that are so malleable that the rug
she weaves can be entirely her own,
430
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,469
and yet patterns which are so distinctive
431
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:27,314
that they can belong
to no other tribe but hers.
432
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:33,315
This is a Qashqai rug,
and if we were knowledgeable enough,
433
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:37,996
we would be able to read it
like a page of Qashqai history.
434
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:42,278
It contains many elements in it
that are not found in any of the rugs
435
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,511
that are woven in the big towns like Shiraz.
436
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:47,158
Elements like this.
437
00:43:47,240 --> 00:43:50,118
Here is a strange little creature with two legs,
438
00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,839
something on its head and a triangular tail.
439
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,993
And here's another one with four legs
and a curious tail and a head.
440
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,230
That's one kind of pattern.
441
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:05,075
Then there's another kind down here,
a sort of pine cone pattern.
442
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,515
And here, a third kind.
443
00:44:07,600 --> 00:44:11,434
A star shape within a diamond with hooks on it.
444
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:14,033
Now have a look at this one.
445
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:18,113
This is a rug which has come from
a thousand miles away,
446
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:22,034
up in the Caucasus
on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
447
00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:25,396
And here, a little four... legged creature,
448
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,075
just like the one on the Qashqai rug,
with two horns.
449
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,469
This in fact is almost certainly a goat.
450
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:38,032
And here is this other creature
which has two plumes on its head,
451
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:43,319
and this big triangular tail,
and this is almost certainly a peacock.
452
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:47,951
And on this rug as well,
down at the bottom there are camels.
453
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:52,352
And interestingly enough, they are
the two... humped camel from central Asia,
454
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:56,479
proving that the origin of this rug
is way up in the north.
455
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:58,630
But look at this.
456
00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:04,750
This is a prayer rug also from Shirvan
on the shores of the Caspian Sea
457
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,274
and here are these cone shapes.
458
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,715
Whether they are cones,
whether they are almonds,
459
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,791
whether they are flames,
460
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,075
is a subject of great controversy.
461
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,116
They're called botehs, whatever they are,
462
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,395
and whatever they are, they also are found
463
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:24,032
throughout the tribal rugs of Persia
and way up into the Caucasus into the north.
464
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,476
And here, a fourth.
465
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:32,509
This rug comes from even farther away,
from almost the coast of the Mediterranean
466
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:33,953
way to the west.
467
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:37,510
This is a Western Turkish rug,
an Alatonium one from Bergama.
468
00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:40,319
And here is this star... shaped pattern
469
00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:43,631
surrounded by a diamond shape
with hooks on it.
470
00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:48,475
And the ancestors of these people, we know,
came from central Asia.
471
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:52,553
So what we have seen from the rugs
is borne out
472
00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,359
by what we know of the Qashqai's history.
473
00:45:55,440 --> 00:46:00,275
For the Qashqai do in fact speak
a dialect of Turkish language,
474
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:04,831
and it seems almost certain
that they originated way up there in the north
475
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:09,550
and over the course of history they have
migrated 500 miles, 1,000 miles,
476
00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:11,995
1,500 miles, right through the Caucasus
477
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:16,790
down past the Caspian Sea
and down to their present... day territory
478
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:21,192
in southern Persia picking up
all these designs on the way.
479
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:13,350
Maybe the Qashqai have at last come
to the end of their centuries... long journey
480
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:14,793
from the centre of Asia.
481
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:18,475
Certainly the sea prevents them
from going any further.
482
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:22,439
But the 20th century has not yet succeeded
in claiming them
483
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,557
and so long as they continue
to live a wandering life,
484
00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:31,749
so their women may continue to hand on their
history and their family pride to their children
485
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,434
with a splendour of woven symbols.