The

Carpet Cellar
Experience the exquisite Craftsmanship

Acknowledgment
Although no specimens for before the 16th century have survived, we do know from literary sources that in very early times, several local tribes and those of Seljuk origin were already making carpets in different regions of Persia. First the Ilkhanid dynasty (1256-1353) of Mongol origin and later the Timurid dynasty (c. 1360-1405) from Central Asia brought a high refinement to the art of miniatures and bookbinding and introduced Chinese symbols as stylistic elements. Thus they influenced local carpet making, as documented by precious miniatures for the 14th and 15th centuries that depict geometric carpets very similar to the Anatolian carpets of the Seljuk period. Such specimens have borders decorated toth Kufic script and fields decorated with stars, octagons or inter lacery stretching across the whole field; sometimes, the fields are sectioned into squares or octagons, such as in the small pattern Hilbeins. The first signs of a new style were already making their appearance at he end of the 15th century, but it was following the rise of the Safavid dynasty (1502-1722) that the Persian carpet truly achieved its independence. depict geometric carpets dynas independence.

Preface
More than any other craft or art form, the handmade rug has survived the onslaught of industrialization and is now in greater demand than ever, and at The Carpet Cellar one can witness a range of handwoven & hand knotted masterpieces, carefully selected and acquired for their uniqueness and brilliant draughtmanship for over 3 decades by a single person. Mr. Sheel Chandras private collection at The Carpet Cellar reveals the range of styles and designs that the words oriental carpet stands for. Representing the culture of a vast area stretching from the Black Sea eastward to China including Mongolia, the erstwhile Soviet Union, Tibet, Turkey, Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Egypt & Morocco and India as well, the Carpet cellar is the place where you can see the effects of socio-economic developments affecting the weaving tradition of a region. Experience the floral motifs and finer weaves of the workshop carpets that reflected the taste of the courts versus the geometric patterns of the nomadic tribal depicting unknown heraldic symbols & distinguished by the different motifs, color combinations, styles of knotting, warp, weft etc., Each carpets represents the weaving tradition of a particular tribe or centre & all of them are hand knotted and vegetable dyed.Often borrowed by leading museums from around the world for exhibitions, these carpets are unique pieces - each in its own frame, with its own subtlety & complexity. Some carpets represent gardens to remind the user of the pleasures of paradise, or of spring, while they kept the floor warm in winter, others depict hunting scenes, floral & animal motifs and geometrical & lattice patterns. There are still others with verses found in borders, culled from works of leading poets or composed by unknown writers for a particular carpet. Whatever the dreams & vision of the craftsmen or the reasons for which these rugs were woven which More than any other craft or art form, the handmade rug has survived the onslaught of industrialization and is now in greater demand than ever, and at The Carpet Cellar one can witness a range of hand-woven & hand knotted masterpieces, carefully selected and acquired for their uniqueness and brilliant draughtmanship for over 3 decades by a single person. Experience the floral motifs and finer weaves of the workshop carpets that reflected the taste of the courts versus the geometric patterns of the nomadic tribal depicting unknown heraldic symbols & distinguished by the different motifs, color combinations, styles of knotting, warp, weft etc., Each carpets represents the weaving tradition of a particular tribe or centre & all of them are hand knotted and vegetable dyed.Often borrowed by leading museums from around the world for exhibitions, these carpets are unique pieces - each in its own frame, with its own subtlety & complexity. Some carpets represent gardens to remind the user of the pleasures of paradise, or of spring, while they kept the floor warm in winter, others depict hunting scenes, floral & animal motifs and geometrical & lattice patterns. There are still others with verses found in borders, culled from works of leading poets or composed by unknown writers for a particular carpet. Whatever the dreams & vision of the craftsmen or the reasons for which these rugs were woven which range from trade, dowry, prayer, commissioning by aristocrats or a simple need to cover a tent floor, each piece is most handsomely designed and conceived. From the finest classic carpets of the Safavid period in Persia, to the wonderful varieties and charming textures of the Moghul Indian carpets to further still the kilims, saddlebags and ornamentation of camels & horses during ceremonial occasions, The Carpet Cellar is a rare representation of the art of oriental weaving at its best. We import the finest

merino wool from Australia and New Zealand, which are actually used to manufacture suiting and thus possess a silk like sheen. We have engaged the finest weavers from Kashmir and U.P whose families have been engaged in this form of art for generations, to recreate these exquisite pieces. We are thus trying to revive the original Indian patterns to their long lost glory. To partake a piece of this unique tradition or merely browse through an overwhelming collection perhaps the largest personal one of its kind in India - The Carpet Cellar is now open to all. range from trade, dowry, prayer, commissioning by aristocrats or a simple need to cover a tent floor, each piece is most handsomely designed and conceived. From the finest classic carpets of the Safavid period in Persia, to the wonderful varieties and charming textures of the Moghul Indian carpets to further still the kilims, saddlebags and ornamentation of camels & horses during ceremonial occasions, The Carpet Cellar is a rare representation of the art of oriental weaving at its best. We import the finest merino wool from Australia and New Zealand, which are actually used to manufacture suiting and thus possess a silk like sheen. We have engaged the finest weavers from Kashmir and U.P whose families have been engaged in this form of art for generations, to recreate these exquisite pieces. We are thus trying to revive the original Indian patterns to their long lost glory. To partake a piece of this unique tradition or merely browse through an overwhelming collection - perhaps the largest personal one of its kind in India - The Carpet Cellar is now open to all.

Contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Origin and history of carpets Construction Persian carpets Indian carpets Central asian carpets New carpets Kilims Saddlebags and tents Textiles and jamawar shawls Maintenance and guidelines 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010

Origin & history of carpets

The origin can be traced back to the Neolithic age of 7000 B.C. Certain products of the era consisting of warp and weft were textile resembling flat weave kilims have been found. After that, the rugs were created by forming knots to make a pile. It is anticipated by the researchers that they may have originated in the dry steppe regions inhabited by the nomads. The nomadic tribes of the region did carpet weaving. They instead of slaughtering their animals wove their wool into carpets. The carpets were spread on their tent floors or hung from the walls to provide protection against the creeping insects and dirt and insulated the tent to an extent against the cold. They were even used as seat covers or saddlebags or to sleep or to pray on. The rugs and carpets were woven with the patterns depicting flowers, animals and trees, their culture, tradition and religious beliefs. One of the earliest carpets till date has been found in the tomb of a Scythian Prince in Southern Siberia and it dates back to the 5th century BC. This region is inhabited by the followers of Islam and so the carpets play an important role in Islamic culture as well as in religion. From a thing of utility as floor or bed coverings at the time of origin they have become a thing of exotic decoration and class. There is one primary thing to understand about the ancient carpets is that they were generally created in the labor of love and not manufactured with the intention to resell them. Broadly categorizing, there are two main types of carpets based on the dates of origin. These two categories are The Antique Carpets and The New Carpets. The antique carpets are all originally manufactured in Persia (Iran), Turkey, Afghanistan, Turkman, China and India. Each carpet is named after the city, town or village that it is made in. Each city or village has a certain reputation for weaving and are possibly even made for resale by master weavers. These are generally floral in designs and are called curvilinear patterns. These are woven in high knot counts and are extremely ornate. Tribal rugs are woven by illiterate tribal nomads who move from place to place on horses and camels. They make these carpets for their own tribal tents and are generally rectilinear designs or have abstract geometrical designs. They are woven on portable looms in which the width of the loom is restricted and hence tribal rugs are generally small in size. Each weaving centre has its own designs, colors, knotting and look. The dating and provenance of each carpet can be ascertained depending upon these various factors. A design that is made in Kashmir is different from patterns made in Agra, or Jaipur. Also, the type of knots can be very different as there are many styles to choose from. As yet it is difficult to point out when the first carpet and the art of carpet making originated, the general areas demarcated where the carpets may have been first produced are the Persia (Iran), Turkmenistan, central Asia Mongolia and China referred to as the Carpet belt. Chinese and Tibetan rugs were of entirely different style and design. They featured the symbols of Buddhist and Taoist religions. In India, the art of woolen carpets was there as early as the 5th century BC but the more famous Persian carpet art came with the Mogul Emperor Akhbar. This art of carpet weaving was obtained from the Persian artists and modified to Indian Royal tastes. The carpets were at one point so highly regarded and valued that they were considered better than money. According to a legend, the great Egyptian Queen Cleopatra actually presented herself to Caesar - rolled up inside a carpet. Marco Polo discovered some of the earliest fine Orientals in the 13th century whilst traveling in Persia. He can be given the credit of introducing the craft outside the carpet belt.

carpets, some are better than others. From Northwestern Persia, the medallion carpets with hunting scene designs date back to 1522. Known simply as hunting carpets, these very rare specimens are recognizable by their scenes depicting armed horsemen fighting wild beasts. Also from the Persian region is the Kashan arabesque carpet from the early 20th century. The Kashan Carpets are recognizable by their soft and fluid style, as well as by their elaborate, densely decorated fields. Carpets with floral decoration were common in northern India since the beginning of the 19th century. Chinese carpets from the 18th century with symbolic motifs are largely dominated by dragons,

and symbols of the emperor, ready to conquer the flaming pearl (purity). This carpet type, intended to serve auspicious purposes, is important and the most typical of this region. In India, carpets were mainly used for prayers back in the late 17th century. In this type of mille fleurs prayer rug, the Mogul style renders the symbolic tree of life as a naturalistic flowering bush. In the Antique carpets there are two further categories, namely the Workshop carpets which were made in big towns and cities and Tribal rugs which were made in villages. Workshop carpets are made in big towns and cities

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Construction
Materials
Wool, cotton and silk are the primary materials for carpets. Because of its availability throughout the Orient, wool (from sheep, goats or less durable camel hair) is the most widely used fiber for carpet making. In antique carpets, especially those made by nomadic tribes, wool was used for both the pile and the foundation. Cotton, a strong fiber, is suitable for the underlying foundation. It was also used in the pile to create white areas. Since it is the crop of a cultivated plant, however cotton is not found in the carpets produced by nomadic tribes. Because of its soft quality and shine, silk is the most precious of the materials, used mainly in the pile, alone or combined with wool, exclusively by specialized city workshops. Wool, cotton and silk are spun into yarn by twisting the fibers.

Type of Knots
Generally speaking, the carpets are considered to be better if the knot counts are higher as calculated per square inch. The higher the knots, the finer the definition and thus more clearer the pattern. The carpets can be made in curvilinear designs (floral) that appear very intricate and are hence more costlier as they take more time and need better skilled craftsman. There are two basic kinds of knot which were used throughout the orient: the symmetrical knot, also known as the Ghiordes, or the Turkish knot, because it was used mainly in Turkey; and the asymmetrical knot, also known as the Senneh. A variant of these two systems is the jufti knot. It is also known as the false knot because, although derived from a Khorasan practice where it was used for relief effects, the jufti knot served in modern production to increase the weaving speed, resulting in less durable carpets.

all natural extracted out of plants, rocks, minerals and sometimes even insects such as cochineal or laq. The advantage with natural dyes was that they did not generally fade and last a lifetime. Natural dye colors are derived from the following elements : REDS : Madder Cochineal Lac Kermes Safflower Cudbear Root Insect Insect Insect Flower head Lichen Reds/various Blue/red Pink Red Red/yellow Red

Dyes
The dyes used generally in the olden days were

A. Symmetrical knot, also known improperly as the Ghiordes, or Turkish, knot: The yarn is looped around both warp threads, then the two ends are drawn out to protrude between the threads. This pair of free ends forms a tuft of the pile. (13) Knot shown in cross section and in perspective views following three possible inclinations; (4) two consecutive knots tied between two rows of weft; (5) the jufti, or false, symmetrical knot. B. Asymmetrical knot, also known improperly as the Senneh or Persian knot: The yarn is wound around one warp thread and then looped behind and around the other, leaving the two ends of the tuft separated by the one free thread; depending on which thread is wrapped, knots are said to be open to the left or to the right. (13) Knot shown in cross section and in perspective views following three possible inclinations; (4) two consecutive knots tied between two rows of weft; (5) the jufti, or false, asymmetrical knot. C. The single-warp, or Spanish, knot: The yarrtis wrapped around a single warp thread, using alternate ones, bringing the two free ends of the knot to either side of the warp chain. D. Vertical loom with adjustable bench and fixed beams (left) and vertical loom with rotating beams (right), which permits the weaver to remain stationary. E. Diagrams showing the twist of fibers, which is useful in determining a carpets origin. Fibers twisted clockwise result in a Z yarn, while fibers twisted counterclockwise result in an 5 yarn. F. Diagrams of the flat-weave techniques of kilims (slit technique, left) and soumaks (looped weft technique, right). Right, detail of the back of a carpet: A close examination is important in learning how to appreciate as well as appraise the refinement of the knotting, because the smaller the knots and the greater the density of the knotting, the greater the value of the carpet. G. The fringes consist of the ends of the warp threads,which are cut from the loom and then tied or knotted in various ways. They represent the final phase in the making of a carpet. From left to right: Knotted, twisted and braided fringes; the last diagram on the right shows a carpet without fringes. Below, detail of a Kerman carpet with floral decoration. Persia, late 1 9th century. Private collection. The manufacture of a carpet in silk increases its value and refinement with its denser knotting.

BLUES : Indigo Leaves Indigo (Dyers Leaves Wood) YELLOWS: Spurge Onion RootYellow Skin Blue Blue

St Johns Wort All, save roots Tanners black Leaves Buckthorn Dyers Camomile Wild Camomile Camomile Saffron Berries Flowers Flower Flowers Stigma

Yellow/ Brownish Yellow Yellow Yellow/Brown Sumach IntenseYellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow/ Orange Bright yellow Yellow Yellow/ Orange Brilliant Yellow

Dyers Weed All, save roots Sage Stem, leaves Dyers Sumach Wood Bastard hemp All

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ORANGES : Orange is made by combining red and yellow dyes; madder, not cochineal, is used for the red colorant. Quercetin produces a very bright orange, apigenin less brilliant, and luteolin results in a reddish orange. The dried leaves of henna are popular for dyeing wool. PURPLES : Purple or violet is made by combining red and blue. The woolen yarn is first dyed with indigo and then by either madder or cochineal. The purple found in most Anatolian kilims contains no indigo, but is derived instead from two madder dyes using an iron mordant. GREENS : Green is produced by mixing yellow and blue. The various yellow dyes combined with indigo or indigo sulphonic acid result in differing tones of green. Pistachio and olive leaves produce a light green. BROWNS : Brown is most often derived from walnut husks. These make a direct dye which is easy to use. Natural brown wool is also abundant. BLACKS : Black is achieved by combining plants with a tannin content with iron. This introduction of iron and the processing necessary damages the wool, so that it tends to corrode with time. Plant sources of tannin are the knobbly oak of the Quercus family, oak apples, tanners sumach, and the skin of the pomegranate. WHITES : Cotton is used to achieve a pure white, and natural wool yields an ivory white The colors used were plenty and one could use up to fifty colors in one carpet. In those days just dyeing the handspun yarn which has a much better hand feel as compared with modern day machine spun yarn could take up to six months just to dye the wool. Today the same process is a three week procedure.

ABRASH

Shade variations that are sometimes present in the ground color of the carpet are called abrash. These irregularities are caused by different degrees of color absorption by the fibers or when skeins of the same color, but from different baths, are used. Abrash may be a natural product of aging, or they may be applied in the weaving process to give the carpet a more handmade look; they may also provide movement to the solid color of the ground when it is considered too uniform for the Oriental taste. Hence, the Abrash should not be considered a defect but an unusual technical and aesthetic feature.

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PERSIA
Persia was a cultural melting pot for various civilizations from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, central Asia and even eastern Asia, except that in Persia carpet making was more a redefined art and a social tradition than an expression of religious belief. Although no specimens from before the 16th century have survived, we do know from literary sources that in very early times, several local tribes and those of Seljuk origin were already making carpets in different regions of Persia. First the Ilkhanid dynasty of Mongol origin and later the Timurid dynasty from Central Asia brought a high refinement to the arts of miniatures and book binding and introduced Chinese symbols as stylistic elements. Thus they influenced local carpet making, that depict geometric carpets very similar to the Anatolian carpets of the Seljuk period. Such specimens have borders decorated with Kufic script and fields decorated with stars, octagons or interlacery stretching across the whole field; sometimes, the fields are sectioned into squares or octagons, such as in the small pattern Holbeins. The first signs of a new style were already making their appearance at the end of the 15th century, but it was following the rise of the Safavid dynasty that the Persian carpet truly achieved its independence. There are different kinds of Persian carpets which were named after the area that they were made in.

Waft away to glory

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Afshari
While rugs of this region are almost universally attributed to the Afshari, a Turkic tribe, the ethnic picture is far more complex. The Afshari are a minority population but they are considered to be the most important. The warp and weft of the rugs of this region have traditionally been of wool, but recently cotton is coming into the villages, it is now unclear just what pieces are made by sedentary people and what by nomads. Earlier, Afshari carpets were single wefted, but now virtually all are double wefted and were most often dyed red. It is possible that among the older rugs, the knot was used to distinguish village

Afshari in terms of their wool foundation, colors, and borders associated with tribal sources, most have asymmetrical knots and depressed alternate warps. The sides are often finished with a reinforced overcast in alternating bands of varying colors. There is great variation in design, and many motifs found elsewhere are given a fresh approach. Another common design consists of lozenge-shaped panels, arranged diagonally across the rug and filled with stylized flowers, remotely suggestive of some older Kerman patterns. Medallion designs are common, particularly those with flowers and a stylized vase at each end of the field. These do not appear to be original designs so much as crude, rural adaptations of city rugs, although this in no way detracts from their charm

Kashan
Kashan lies about halfway between Tehran and Isfahan, and has been a major center of textile production. More than any other major Iranian city, Kashan is an oasis, surrounded by gravel plains too arid for farming and standing near no river. The area receives its water from abundant springs in the Kuh-i-Sefid, which issue five miles north of Kashan in the town of Fin and these springs have

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from nomadic products. Presumably the Persian villagers would have used the asymmetrical knot and the Turkic nomads the symmetrical knot. The weave is generally of a medium density, tending recently toward the coarser. Afshari products are seldom larger than 56 X 7 and have a striped kilim band at the ends or sometimes a few rows of brocade. Pieces around 15 feet or more in length often show European features in the design, and many seem to be rural adaptations of Kerman city rugs. While these pieces are clearly

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supported one of the earliest known settlements on the Iranian plateaun. The more abundant wool rugs of Kashan are less distinctive. Still, they are among the most tightly woven Persian rugs, averaging 196 knots to the square inch, there are finer grades as well. As would be expected, Kashans are asymmetrically knotted on a cotton foundation, except for a small number of earlier pieces with silk warps. The wefts are often dyed blue. The first carpets in the 1890s resembled the Sarok of its time, with some stiffness to the drawing. This soon gave way to styles suggestive of the Kerman tradition, with naturalistically drawn floral designs. The field was usually covered with decorative motifs, while the ground color usually a madder red or indigo. Some ivory ground pieces are also found. Work in Kashan is carried out in homes rather than workshops with the weaving done almost exclusively by the women. A high level of quality is maintained, whether the rugs originate within the city or in surrounding villages, although there are some villages that specialize in a lower grade of rug, which was traditionally marketed under the label Aroon.

Baluchi
The historical references to Baluchis occur in the 10th century when they first inhabited an area south of Kerman. But the Baluchi rugs reaching

Alternate warps may be slightly depressed. The color tonalities were somber until the introduction of bright synthetic dyes. Classically the Baluchi was woven in deep blues, rust reds, dark brown, and black, with occasional bits of yellow, orange, and green, and a sparing use of white, mostly for outlining. Baluchi rugs of Iran and Afghanistan show enough similarities that they are best described here under the same general heading. It is probable that until a century ago the rugs were so alike that they could not be distinguished by their country of origin. Late nineteenth-century pieces were also much the same in quality, but now the typical Persian Baluchi has become a finer fabric, although the Afghan type may well be truer to the original model.

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Kerman
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Western markets, however, are ordinarily made several hundred miles to the north of Baluchistan, in Khurasan and northwestern Afghanistan by Baluchi people who live there. Rugs of the Baluchi tribesmen are often so distinctive that they can recognized at a glance. The area inhabited by the rug making Baluchis is also home to a number of other people of substantially different ethnic origins but close enough culturally to make similar rugs. Over the years their work has often been labeled as Baluchi, but the last several decades have witnessed a laborious process of sorting and classifying large numbers of rugs. A classic Baluchi rug is a relatively thin, narrow, loose fabric, with a wool foundation that contains some goat hair. The sides are usually formed of a three- or four-cord selvage of dark goat hair. Small dowry rugs and a type of pillow known as a balisht are among the finest Baluchi pieces and may contain silk. They are usually double wefted and asymmetrically knotted, the ends are finished with a long kilim band decorated with stripes of plain weave. The knotting varies from about 40 knots to the square inch to well above 150 in the best pieces.

With numerous weaving villages in its vicinity, Kerman has long been one of the major carpet producing areas of Persia. Its geographical position distanced the city from the usual commercial channels, except for the ancient caravan route to India. This, and the arid climate, has made Kerman the poorest of the five major provinces of Iran. Development of the carpet industry is poorly documented in Kerman, as elsewhere, although there is clear evidence that weaving occurred during Safavid times. Kerman textiles of various types thus developed to meet the pre-vailing styles demanded by commerce. A large and spectacular Kerman carpet in a garden design - which quite possibly dates from as early as the sixteenth century - is displayed in the Central Museum in Jaipur, where there is evidence that it was brought from Persia in the early seventeenth century. This, and several other Kerman carpets, was for several centuries in the collection of the maharajas of Jaipur. The pattern of Kerman rugs is usually curvilinear floral and medallion motifs. They also carry animal motifs and repetitive patterns. Some have the pictorials that are said to be too realistic for a carpet. Kerman rugs are woven in a variety of intricate designs from cartoons. The colors generally have

softer hues. They are soft red, green, blue, yellow and ivory. The antique and semi-antique rugs have red and blue combinations. The introductions of pastel colors like turquoise, orange, champagne and beige are more contemporary. They are made of fine, lustrous wool knotted with the Persian knots. They are generally large in size but smaller ones are also available. The wrap and weft are of cotton and pile of wool, they are not very thick and have a soft texture. The knotting is medium to high quality with 130 to 840 knots per square inch.

Qashgai
The Qashqai people speak a Turkish dialect similar to that of Azerbaijan, and there is evidence that they are, at least partially, Seljuk remnants who entered Fars from the north during the thirteenth century, possibly to avoid the Mongols. Several sources quote the tradition that the word Qashqai derives from the Turkic verb qachmak, to flee, in reference to their flight from the Mongols. There is much conflicting information in print about the Qashqai sub tribes, and there have been periodic fluctuations in the importance of various groups. Qashqai rugs are, as one would expect, are all wool, usually with ivory warps and often with dark or red-dyed wefts. There have been times when some rugs from the Qashqai workshop have been woven on cotton. The typical Qashqai rug is asymmetrically knotted, and only the gabbehs are ordinarily symmetrically knotted. The edges

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itself contains perhaps one tenth of this total. What this means in terms of rug production is that Khotan is not so much a city as a region. It is large enough that there can be substantial diversity in weaving techniques from one town to the next, depending upon the particular setting in which weaving takes place. There are more than 30 carpet factories, and there are hundreds of Uighur homes have between two and five active looms each. In one home with three large looms, carpets normally have blue fields and the traditional pomegranate design is usually attributed to Yarkand. Half a dozen others of the same type were in use within the household, and the pomegranate design has a special meaning to wool wefts, passing three times between the rows of knots. The weavers felt that cotton was a better weft material. Conversely, the largest of the factories was producing rugs in designs unrecognizable as being from Eastern Turkestan. Another revealed rugs made of locally grown silk in Persian designs; some were described as 300 and 350 lines per foot. It soon became clear that within the confines of the Khotan Oasis there was still substantial carpet weaving. Not one technique or design dominated, and there seemed to be a clear differentiation between material woven for the official carpet sell- market. Almost certainly there has long been a variety of designs and structures used in the various towns and villages of the Khotan Oasis.

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are often finished with a barbers pole overcast in several different colors, at times with extra tassels of colored wool. There may be a narrow, striped, plain weave band at both ends. The Qashguli fabric is probably both the finest, and the easiest to distinguish, as it consistently has asymmetrical knots with deeply depressed alternate warps, red wefts, and a fine weave. At least during the last century, most Qashguli work has probably not been at all nomadic, as workshops have been established where many Qashguli live year round. Khotan What one notices most prominently about Khotan and the other cities along the fringes of the Takla Makan is that they are indeed isolated oases, separated by large stretches of terrain so barren and forbidding that one wonders how the desert was ever crossed by camel caravan. The edge of the oasis is a line. On one side there is greenery, and on the other utter desolation, often enveloped in a dusty haze that limits visibility. The water for this miracle comes from rivers bringing snow-melt from the nearby mountains, and there is sufficient in Khotan to irrigate an area about 30 by 40 miles. In this setting, with great groves of poplar trees interspersed among abundant crops, there are a number of separate cities and towns with a population currently estimated at 1.4 million. Khotan city

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The Carpet Cellar

A : 1, Anand Lok, Khel Gaon Marg, Siri Fort Raod New Delhi, 110 049, India P : +91 11 41641777/41741011/41741012 F : +91 11 26963664/26518891 E : wool@bol.net.in, info@carpetcellar.com