By Porter Lang
Start with the loom. A hand-knotted carpet from the Bhadohi-Mirzapur region of Uttar Pradesh is made on a vertical wooden loom, according to the makers’ own application for a protected name. Thick cotton and woollen yarn forms the warp, and the pile is tied on knot by knot. A good deal of what a buyer might ask comes back to that one fact.
Where the belt is
Bhadohi is 45 km west of Varanasi and 82 km east of Prayagraj, says Wikipedia, which calls it home to the largest hand-knotted carpet-weaving hub in South Asia. Mirzapur, the neighbouring town, was established in 1735, according to Wikipedia. The application describes a belt that also takes in parts of Varanasi, Ghazipur, Sonbhadra, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jaunpur and Chandauli districts.
How a carpet is built
The application, filed in June 2009 by a carpet manufacturers’ association, a handicraft society, a chamber of commerce and a state industries office, lists five stages: wool or yarn and dyes, dyeing to the design, knotting, washing and drying, and the finished carpet. The designer draws the pattern, then transfers it to graph paper where each square stands for one knot. The weaver stretches warp threads on the loom, knots the pile to them, inserts a weft thread, then the pile is shorn.
The application says quality depends on the tightness of the knot and the shortness of the pile, and that the number of knots per square inch indicates quality: more knots, better quality. That is the producers’ view, and it is presented as a rule of thumb. It also says that high-grade wool develops a lustre with wear, and that the best carpets blend imported and Indian wool.
Two counts that do not match
The application says the belt’s qualities run from 30 to 300 knots per square inch. Jaipur Rugs, a carpet maker with its own blog, says knot counts range from 25 to 194 “or more at times”. Both are producers writing about their own trade. We show the two ranges side by side. Neither is an independent measurement.
What the name covers
This is the part most buyers miss. The application lists the goods as handmade carpets “like hand knotted carpets”, and in the same class names Khamariya, Mughal and Lahori designs, and also “hand made carpets like tufted, Punja dari”. Table mats and wall hangings are on the list too. We did not open the register entry itself, so we cannot say what was finally granted. But if the registered name followed the application, one name would span knotted and tufted goods. Our reading: a label that says only “Bhadohi” does not tell you the method, and the method is the question.
Knotted, tufted, woven
Wikipedia’s article on carpets separates three methods. Hand-knotted pile is tied by hand, knot by knot, with the symmetrical (Turkish or Ghiordes) and asymmetrical (Persian or Senna) knots as the two main kinds. Tufted pile is injected into a backing with a tufting gun, then bonded to a secondary backing. Machine-woven carpets, Axminster and Wilton among them, weave pile and backing together on large looms. It adds that hand-knotted carpets are usually the most expensive because making them is slow. That is a general statement, not a Bhadohi one.
How old is the trade
The application says carpet weaving in India dates to 1580, when Akbar brought weavers to his palace in Agra, and that after 1857 those weavers moved to a village called Madhosingh, between Bhadohi and Mirzapur, where the Maharaja of Banaras later supported the craft. Wikipedia’s article on carpets says Akbar is credited with introducing carpet weaving to India and settling Persian craftsmen there. Jaipur Rugs gives Akbar’s reign as 1556 to 1605 and says quality declined from the 19th century until the mid-20th. The application also says a commercial belt took shape in the 19th century, and names two companies founded then.
Who works in it
The application says 3.2 million people are engaged in the sector. Wikipedia’s Bhadohi article says about 22 lakh, which is 2.2 million. The figures are not dated the same way, so we put them side by side. Wikipedia adds that the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology was set up there in 2001 by the Ministry of Textiles.
Dates in order
- 1580: Akbar brings weavers to Agra, according to the application.
- 1735: Mirzapur established, according to Wikipedia.
- 1857: weavers move from Agra to Madhosingh, according to the application.
- 2001: the carpet technology institute is set up, according to Wikipedia.
- June 2009: the application for a protected name is signed.
Questions a buyer would ask
Which method made this? Ask for it in words, not just a belt name. How many knots per square inch, and counted how? What is the pile made of? Our reading: in cold months, when rugs go down on bare floors, these three questions matter more than the pattern.
What we left out
Prices, export values, and any rule for judging a rug from its back, because no source we read gave one we could check. We also left out the motif meanings the application lists, which it does not source.
Quick answers
Where do Bhadohi carpets come from? According to Wikipedia, Bhadohi is in northern Uttar Pradesh, 45 km west of Varanasi. The makers’ application describes a wider belt with Mirzapur.
How many knots are in a Bhadohi carpet? The makers’ application says 30 to 300 knots per square inch. Jaipur Rugs says 25 to 194 or more. The sources do not agree.
What is the difference between hand-knotted and tufted? Wikipedia says hand-knotted pile is tied by hand. Tufted pile is injected into a backing with a tufting gun.
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