PHYSICAL FEATURES AND HISTORY OF THE RUG-PRODUCING LANDS
THE artistic character of Oriental rugs, like every other artistic
impulse, is subject to the influence of physical environment. This
influence is not alone that to which an individual weaver has been
subjected, but is the transmitted effect of the accumulated experiences
of many generations. It appears in the colours which simulate tones
displayed by varying phases of nature, and also in the designs or
symbols which, derived from older types by a long process of evolution,
partially reflect feelings engendered in a people of highly imaginative
and poetic temperament by long contact with elemental forces. Moreover,
the quality of material used depends almost exclusively on the climate
and physical conditions of countries where it is produced. Accordingly,
the artistic and essential characteristics of rugs are better understood
by a knowledge of the salient physical features of the countries where
they are woven.[3]
The principal Oriental countries that continue to produce rugs are
China, India, Afghanistan, Beluchistan, Persia, Turkestan, Caucasia, and
Asia Minor. As all of them are contiguous, they may be regarded as a
geographic unit; and though there is much diversity of detail, there is
also much in common. From near the western boundary of Asia Minor a vast
plateau stretches eastward into Central Asia, increasing in altitude
towards the east.
Its mean elevation in Asia Minor is from two thousand to three thousand
feet, and as it extends beyond the Zagros Mountains and crosses the
northern half of Persia, it rises from four thousand to five thousand
feet. Continuing eastward through Southern Turkestan and Afghanistan it
increases in altitude until it has risen to nearly twelve thousand feet
in the lofty table-lands of Central Asia, where it begins to descend as
it extends farther into the desert of Gobi. From the western part of
this plateau a spur extends northward between the Black and Caspian
seas, to form the high table-land of Caucasia, which has a mean elevation
of about seven thousand feet.
The general topographic features of this plateau include great stretches
of comparatively level land, broad tracts from which there is no
drainage to the sea, and sandy desert wastes. On almost every side it is
bounded by mountain chains and is intersected by transverse ridges that
lift still higher peaks where rests the perpetual snow. Throughout the
deserts and large parts of the table-lands the rainfall is slight, so
that there are but few important river courses.
The cultivated portions of this vast area are relatively small, and
consist largely of strips of land in fertile valleys, through which flow
perennial streams. From time immemorial these streams have been used for
irrigation, and the inhabitants of the districts have prospered by
abundant harvests. In one or another of these valleys have been built
the principal cities, within the walls of which were imposing temples
that stimulated religious fervour, schools of learning to quicken the
intellect, and gardens where perfumed flowers and the songs of birds
delighted the aesthetic senses. In these cities science, philosophy,
religion, and art received their highest development. In them lived the
most skilled artisans and artists of the Orient; and the products of the
loom were of the finest quality.
Beyond these valleys are great stretches of uncultivated tracts
consisting of plains, hills, and mountains. Some of these tracts are
naturally fertile and could be made productive, but at present are used
only for pasturage, and over them numberless tribes of fierce nomads
drive their flocks of sheep. On the other hand, where the land has no
drainage to the sea, so that the streams and rivers that flow into it
empty into small lakes or are finally absorbed, the soil becomes
impregnated with alkali deposited from the waters, and the grass is
scanty. There are also sandy wastes of great extent where scarcely any
animal life can exist. Moreover in many parts of the country the rain
falls only during a few months of the year, and more abundantly in the
higher altitudes, so that the nomads are constantly searching for fresh
pasturage, and moving from the lowlands, where the grass dies after the
rainy season, to the higher altitudes, from which they return again at
the approach of winter. So numerous are the flocks that in the struggle
for pasture the weaker tribes are driven to the poorer land.
The pastoral life, the necessity of moving from place to place, the
strife resulting from the difference in quality of pasture, have
affected the temperament and character of the people. The boundless
stretches of land, the clear atmosphere, the burning desert sands, the
delicate mirage, and the starry heavens, have made men hospitable,
thoughtful, devotional; constant wanderings have made them independent;
the struggle for pasturage has made them lawless and cruel. These
qualities are reflected to some extent in their woven fabrics, which
lack the high artistic finish of those woven in cities. A large
proportion of them are prayer rugs and contain symbols of the sun and
fire worship. The designs are barbaric, and many are doubtless the same
as those used hundreds of years ago. The colours of the old pieces,
woven on upland plains or in mountain fastnesses, blend less
harmoniously than those woven by more cultured weavers; but they
frequently possess rich, pure tones, which are no longer seen in the
modern rugs. As even a partial expression of the thoughts and feelings
of a people, there are no rugs from the Orient more worthy of study than
the rare old pieces woven by nomadic tribes.
Not only physical environment but the conquests of foreign enemies, as
well as political struggles at home, have had an important influence on
all art. It will be of interest, therefore, to briefly review the
histories of Central and Southwestern Asia, where rugs have been made
for over three thousand years, in order to understand the different
racial influences which have affected their artistic development.
[Illustration: PLATE 1. KHORASSAN RUG]
In the rich valleys near the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates dwelt in
the remote past a race of unknown origin called Sumerians, and to the
north of them lived another people known as the Accadians. These races
built canals, cultivated the soil, established towns, and invented the
cuneiform writing. They lived in harmony with one another, and
continued to prosper until about 3000 B.C., when the Semitic race of the
Chaldees, appearing from an unknown land, subdued them. The Chaldees,
however, allowed the conquered races to retain part of their lands,
adopted their civilisation, and about the year 2500 B.C. built the city
of Babylon, the foundation of which biblical students claim was laid by
the mighty hunter Nimrod. By cultivating the surrounding country, by
developing its trade and commerce, the Babylonians became a wealthy and
powerful nation; and by encouraging manufactures, art, and science, they
became noted for their delicate fabrics, magnificent temples, and
knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.
About the year 2000 B.C. a number of tribesmen, among whom was Abraham,
migrated with their flocks to the upper valleys of the Tigris and
founded Nineveh. A century later the land occupied by colonists who
settled about Nineveh was known as Assyria. It increased in numbers and
in power until, in 1300 B.C., it gained its first victory over Babylon;
and during the next four hundred years, though meeting with occasional
reverses, it extended its rule over Babylonia, Asia Minor, and Assyria,
and received tribute even from Egypt. It thus became the first great
conquering power in Southwestern Asia. In their magnificent palaces of
Nineveh, surrounded by luxury, the rulers of Assyria were resting in
supposed security when a powerful and unexpected enemy appeared from the
land now known as Persia.
When the valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates were inhabited by
Sumerians and Accadians, Iran, which included modern Persia, was
similarly inhabited by races of unknown origin. Subsequently, but at an
exceedingly remote period, from the region about the Oxus river in
Western Asia two branches of the great Aryan family migrated to Iran.
One of these, which settled in the northern part, was known as the
Medes; the other, which settled in the southern part, was known as the
Persians. Both Medes and Persians subdued the native races and in the
course of centuries constructed powerful empires. The former were the
first to extend their conquests, and forming an alliance with the
viceroy of Babylon they attacked Nineveh in the year 606 B.C. and
destroyed it. Babylon now became the mistress of all Mesopotamia, and
under Nebuchadnezzar it was enlarged to cover an area of one hundred
square miles, and surrounded by walls three hundred feet high. These
walls enclosed parks, orchards, gardens, and a city that soon became
famous for its palaces, its temple of Bel, and its Hanging Gardens.
While Babylon was rising in power changes were occurring in Iran. Cyrus,
leader of the Persians, instigated a revolt against the Medes and
conquered them. But not satisfied with making the Persians rulers of
Iran he extended his conquests westward, and in the year 538 B.C., by
diverting the waters of the Euphrates, surprised Belshazzar in his
banquet hall and became master of Babylonia. The complete subjection of
all Asia Minor followed, and for the next two centuries the warlike
Persians were the dominant power in Western Asia. But in the year 331
B.C., when Alexander the Great defeated their armies under Darius, the
Persian Empire melted away.
Whether in Egypt or China or by the Tigris the art of weaving first took
definite form, it was in this land of Babylon and Nineveh, of the Medes
and the Persians, of Abraham, Belshazzar, and Cyrus, where a few
remaining monuments attest the delicate textiles of those early days,
that in more recent ages have been woven the most perfect carpets of
which there is any knowledge.
During the succeeding five hundred years Persia, Asia Minor, Caucasia,
and Syria became the prey of the Parthians, Greeks, and Romans, to whom
petty tribes, recognising no sovereign power and secure in their
mountain fastnesses, bade occasional defiance. About the year 226 A. D.
an able leader of one of the Persian tribes founded the dynasty of the
Sassanides, which during the reign of Chosroes (531-579 A. D.) and his
grandson Chosroes II (590-628 A. D.) ruled over the country from the Oxus
on the north to Arabia and Egypt on the south, and from India on the
east to Assyria on the west. This was a period of prosperity and luxury,
the glory of which continued until the middle of the VII Century, when
it was overthrown by a new power rising from a most unexpected quarter.
In the inhospitable land of Arabia, noted for its coffee, dates, and
myrrh, for its dreary, sandy, waterless wastes, a land hitherto almost
unknown in history, Mohammed promulgated the religion which, suited to
the temperament and desires of the Bedouins, united them into a fanatic,
militant body of conquerors. After his death his successors, known as
the Caliphs, extended his conquests. Their successful armies quickly
overran Persia and overthrew the Sassanian rule; then marching northward
into Turkestan and as far east as the Indus they overcame all
resistance. From the Greeks, by whom they were known as the Saracens,
they snatched Palestine and Syria, and invading Egypt, conquered it
after the long stubborn siege of Alexandria. A little later the Arabs
became masters of Northern Africa, and settling there intermarried with
the native races. Near the Straits of Gibraltar their African
descendants, known as the Moors, crossed to Spain, where in the year 711
they vanquished a powerful army that opposed them. During the following
year they subdued all of that country and began an invasion of Northern
Europe. But on the rich pasture lands near Tours, where the infantry of
Charles Martel met the Mussulman cavalry in one of the most decisive
battles of history, they were defeated with terrible slaughter and
Christian Europe was saved.
These conquests of the Mohammedans had not only a political and
religious significance, but also an important influence on art at a time
when Europe was sunk in ignorance and barbarism. Fond of magnificence
and luxury, the Caliphs founded great capitals in Assyria, Egypt, and
Spain, and built palaces that have histories which sound like fairy
tales. Bagdad on the banks of the Tigris, with its sixteen hundred
canals, one hundred and five bridges, and nearly a million people, with
its countless baths, its many thousand mosques, and its royal palace,
where was collected the best of Asiatic taste, elegance, and splendour,
possessed more grandeur than any other city in the world. Gibbon states
that within the palace, furnished with Oriental luxury, hung
thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry, one third of which were of
silk embroidered with gold, and that on the floors lay twenty-two
thousand carpets. In Cairo and in Cordova, likewise, the Caliphs
surrounded themselves with similar splendour, of which, unfortunately,
but few traces now exist; but the Castle of the Alhambra still remains
as a powerful reminder of their taste and artistic genius. It is largely
to the influence of this race that were due many of the beautiful
Spanish rugs such as Queen Eleanor in the XIII Century took to England
from Cordova and Granada, as well as those of other periods. Moreover,
in some of the choicest pieces of Asia Minor and Persia, woven during
the XVI and XVII Centuries, are traces of this early Saracenic art.
For about five centuries the militant power of these Mohammedans was
dominant in Southwestern Asia when another conquering race appeared. The
great wall of China, which was built over two hundred years before
Christ by the famous Che-Hwang-te, to protect it against the invasions
of the Tartars, turned westward many wandering hordes from the more
fertile pastures and valleys of Southeastern Asia. One of these hordes
was of Turks, who, leaving their homes near the sources of the Irtish
and Yenisei rivers in the Altai Mountains, settled in Turkestan. Many
centuries afterwards, to escape from other hordes pressing westward and
to reach fresh pastures, different branches of them migrated southward
and westward. About the year 1000 A. D. one of these branches known as
the Seljukian Turks gained a foothold in Persia, and under Malek Shah,
in 1072, made Ispahan its capital. About the same time it extended its
power over Asia Minor and overran Georgia, where it destroyed the
capital Tiflis after slaughtering the inhabitants. To this Turkoman race
should probably be accredited the earliest Mongolian influence on
Persian textile art.
Somewhat later a people numbering forty thousand tents were ranging that
part of Mongolia which lies north of the desert of Gobi in search of
pasture and water. One of their number gathered about him a few
followers, and by his own genius gained the ascendency over his tribes.
He then allied himself with another powerful tribe, and reducing to
obedience all the Mongolians who dwelt north of the desert of Gobi, in
1206, in the presence of his chiefs, he assumed the title of Genghis
Khan. After becoming the ruler of millions of nomads of the great
central plateau of Asia and conquering part of China, which was then
enjoying a period of great wealth and prosperity, he invaded Western
Asia. Bokhara offered no resistance and might have been spared, but
learning that some of the Sultan’s garrison were concealed he ordered
the city to be burned. Samarkand, which surrendered after three days’
siege, was pillaged and the inhabitants were slaughtered. Herat appeased
his anger by opening its gates. Even his death did not stop the ravages
of the Mongol horde that captured and sacked Bagdad, and, crossing the
Tigris and Euphrates, pillaged all Asia Minor. In 1258, Hulaku Khan,
grandson of Genghis, conquered Persia and established his capital in the
province of Azerbijan, where his descendants ruled for over a century.
[Illustration: PLATE 2. MESHED RUG]
With these invasions another wave of Mongolian influence was felt in
Western Asia. Whatever may have been the effect on local art by the
settlement of the Seljukian Turks in Persia and Asia Minor during the
early part of the XI Century, it was inappreciable as compared with
that of Genghis Khan and his followers. For the influence of Bagdad over
Southwestern Asia was like that of Rome over the empire of the Cæsars,
and when in the middle of the XIII Century it was plundered for forty
days, and other important cities of Asia Minor and Persia similarly
treated, there was no longer the same incentive to work, so that art for
a time languished. But in some cities the artistic spirit of the people
prevailed over the loss of independence, and the more skilled workmen
were encouraged by their new masters, who, recognising the beauty of the
Persian carpets, sent many Persian artists to China and brought many
Chinese artists to Persia, that the different races might derive
advantages from the instruction of one another. It is therefore not
surprising that from this time the influence of Chinese art has been
recognised in the woven fabrics and metal work made in the southwestern
part of Asia. In fact, the Chinese motive known as the “key pattern,” as
well as other less familiar designs of distinctly Mongolian origin,
appeared for the first time in some of the carpets and metal work of
this period.
Like Turkestan, Asia Minor has been one of the great battle-grounds of
the world. During parts of the XI, XII, and XIII Centuries not only
Seljukian Turks, but Mongols and Ottoman Turks under Murad and Bajazet,
rose in influence until all Asia Minor, as well as Thrace and Macedonia,
was subject to them. But still another power from the far East was to
overrun Asia and divert Bajazet from the walls of Constantinople.
Under Tamerlane, the descendant of Genghis Khan, the Mongol hordes were
again united and again attempted the conquest of the world. From the
walls of China to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the Steppes of
Turkestan to the Arabian deserts, his victorious armies overcame all
opposition. Never was conqueror more rapacious, more bloodthirsty. At
Ispahan, seventy thousand inhabitants were slain. Georgia was laid waste
and the people were massacred. In 1401, Bagdad was besieged and, when
taken, a pyramid of ninety thousand human victims was raised as a
monument to the Tartar conqueror. In the following year, when the armies
of Bajazet and Tamerlane met on the plains near Angora, the Turks were
defeated and Bajazet was captured. But now the tide of Mongol invasion
receded; and laden with spoils Tamerlane returned to his capital at
Samarkand, where he enjoyed the remaining years of his life by
surrounding himself with a brilliant court and by building palaces and
temples, which he adorned with royal splendour. With all his atrocious
barbarities he had a higher appreciation of art than his Mongolian
predecessors. At his capital were assembled skilled artisans from
Eastern and Western Asia; and there at the beginning of the XIV Century
European travellers saw innumerable art treasures, including carpets of
wonderful workmanship and beauty.
The Mongol power also gained an important foothold in India. This
country, like Iran, had been subjugated by a branch of the Aryan race,
which conquered the native Dravidians, and remained dominant until the
VII and VIII Centuries. Then the Mohammedans invaded it, and were still
in ascendency when Tamerlane crossed the mountains and attacked Delhi.
After the lapse of more than a hundred years his descendants, Baber,
Akbar, and Shah Jahan, rose to power. The magnificence of their courts
and the splendour of the temples which they built stimulated Indian art;
and under the instruction of Persian artisans, who were induced to
settle in that country, the natives attained their highest skill in
weaving.
With the death of Tamerlane, in 1405, the Ottoman power in Persia and
Asia Minor rose again, and Turkish victories followed in quick
succession until in 1453 Constantinople fell and the church of St.
Sophia became a mosque.
After the lapse of half a century Shah Ismael of the family of the
Safavids defeated the Turkomans in 1502, and founded a new dynasty in
Persia. With his rise began one of the most splendid periods in its
history. Within a few years victories extended his empire from the
Euphrates river to Afghanistan and from the Oxus to the Persian gulf.
This was the land of ancient Iran, over which from his court at Ardebil
he ruled until his death. In the early part of the reign of Shah Tamasp,
which lasted from 1524 to 1576, the new dynasty was threatened by the
Turkish ruler, Soliman the Magnificent, after he had taken Rhodes from
the Knights of St. John and invaded Southern Europe. In 1534 he captured
Bagdad and Tabriz, as well as conquered Shirvan and Georgia.[4] But the
lost territory was soon regained and the new Persian capital was
established at Tabriz where, as will be seen later, were woven many of
the greatest masterpieces of Persian textile fabrics. Much as these
monarchs had accomplished, it was Shah Abbas the Great who, after ten
years of internal strife, succeeded by expelling the Turks from Persia,
restoring tranquillity, and establishing commerce, in elevating his
country from one of devastation and confusion to one of greatness such
as it had not known for many ages. He transferred his court to Ispahan,
where, while adding to the magnificence of the city, he encouraged art
even to the extent of sending to Italy, for study, a number of the most
skilled artists of Persia. These in time returned and exerted an
influence that appeared in the more elaborate designs of carpets of a
subsequent period. It is also probable that he rendered valuable
assistance to Akbar of India in founding carpet-weaving in that country.
He ruled from 1586 to 1628. This period, during which America was a
wilderness and England under Queen Elizabeth was still struggling with
the feudal system, was the golden age of Persian history and Persian
art; but with his death the Safavid dynasty declined and art decadence
began.
In 1722, the Afghans conquered Persia and for a number of years ruled it
with horrible cruelty; but they were finally defeated by Nadir Shah, who
captured Herat in 1731, extended his dominion into Georgia, and
recovered some of the lost territory from the Turkish Empire in the
West. After his death the sovereignty of Persia again waned, until in
time it was confined to its present limits.
It thus appears that from the earliest times recorded in history the
southwestern part of Asia has been subject to invasion, and to constant
struggles between the different races of the East for supremacy. Even
from the desert of Gobi, the flanks of the Altai Mountains, and the
deserts of Arabia have poured forth armies to devastate the land. One
victorious power after another has extended its sway from the banks of
the Indus to the shores of the Mediterranean. The result is that the
present Oriental textile art is of a composite character, which can be
understood only by taking into consideration the value of these racial
influences that have contributed to it some of its most interesting and
subtle charms.