All about Arak carpets
Arak carpet is a type of Iranian carpet that is woven in Arak region. During the Qajar period, Arak was one of the important centers of carpet weaving in Iran. The carpet industry has been popular in the region in the past, and Farahan carpets, Saraband carpets, and Sarough carpets have become world-famous.
Not enough information is available about the history of carpet weaving before the construction of Arak city. However, due to the existence of carpet weaving centers around Arak such as Kashan, Qom and Isfahan, it cannot be imagined that carpet weaving in Arak region has less history than other cities around it. It is mentioned in history that when Shapur Zolakataf passed through Farahan in Saruq, he was given a carpet as a gift, which clearly indicates the existence of carpet weaving in Arak at that time.
After the end of the Sassanid era, there is no evidence of carpet weaving in this area until centuries later. Due to the disappearance of woven carpets and ongoing wars in the central region of Iran, there is no information about the establishment of large carpet weaving workshops and important carpets. Arak carpets had a significant presence in the middle of Nasser al-Din Shah’s reign, and some of Arak’s exquisite carpets are known around the world.
The process of commercialization and export of Arak carpets began during the Qajar period and between the rule of Fath Ali Shah and Nasser al-Din Shah.
In 1314, with the nationalization of the carpet industry, the production of this product was almost given to Iranian merchants and the Iranian carpet company.
Features of Arak carpets:
• One of the important features of Arak carpet is that weaving and counterfeit and pair knots are less seen in the carpets of this area and therefore the quality of work increases.
• Arak carpets are among the coarse-textured carpets, the number of which reaches 40 and rarely 50. Of course, in this category of carpets, there are also fine-textured carpets that are woven to order by customers. Coarse-grained carpet refers to a carpet in which thick, long and strong knots with appropriate elasticity are used. This quality, which gives the carpet a covering role, is compatible with tribal and nomadic characteristics and villages or cold and mountainous areas.
• Arak handmade carpets are woven with Persian knots on a vertical surface and its fibers are fixed on the ground. Arak carpets used to be woven with double weave, but weaving with single weave has become more common today. The fabric of Arak carpets is blue and if the background is simple, the fabric will be chosen in dark blue or black.
• Arak carpet is one of the medium and high quality carpets in terms of quality and one of the cheap carpets in Iran in terms of price. One of the reasons for the cheapness of the carpet is that it is coarse-textured and heavy.
• Proper use of wool in Arak carpets has made this beautiful carpet not need expensive silk yarn to become popular. In addition, the weaving of the carpet with wool obtained from Iranian sheep is hand-picked and skillfully dyed, which makes the carpet look unique and soft, which is able to compete with silk carpets.
Dyeing is done in a dyeing pot containing coarse rhubarb particles, pomegranate peel and walnut peel, the dyed wool is washed under running water to separate the particles attached to it and the excess dye, and the wool is softened. Simple designs and skillful dyeing of Arak carpets have made these carpets not need silk to shine in the carpet market.
