Oriental Rugs from Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey
Modified By The Rug Guru Oriental Rugs From Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey ... Turkmen Rugs Geography West Turkestan is an area of some 700,000 square kilometres with the Caspian Sea to the west, the Mangyshlak Peninsula to the northeast and the Kapet-Dagh Mountains and the outskirts of the Hindukush forming a semicircle to the south. West of what since 1924 has been the border of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Turkmenistan are Afghanistan and the Iranian province of Khorassan. At the eastern side is the huge Chinese province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang). Usually referred to in the context of weaving literature as East Turkestan. Thus viewed in simple geographic terms, it is easier to understand the nature of this Eurasian basin, part of the ancient world's dry belt. To the western side of the region is the Karakum desert and to the east, between the Amu- Darya and Syr-Darya rivers, is the Kyzylkum desert. To the south, that there was earlier the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan, now this independent state, are the important trading centres of Bukhara and Samarkand. The latter having been a major post along the ancient Silk Road, which ran from China through East Turkestan and on westwards, via Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Mary (Merv) in Turkmenistan and Khorasan. Many different ethnic groups have occupied this region for millennia and among those associated with weaving, in addition to the Turkmen's themselves, are the Uzbeks, Karakalpaks and Kirgiz. Historical Research Serious research into the weaving culture of the Turkmen's must, of course, encompass more than aesthetic appreciation.
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