A unique characteristic of Turkmen main carpets was the driving motivation of this survey - the astounding continuity of format and the impressive royal-like aspect of some. A compelling question has been tickling the mind ever since: do they reflect an early 'courtly' outcome?
Along the way, a clue between them and a wider artistic scenario emerged. In fact, although apparently bonded to the historical and geographical latitudes which they sourced from, some features seem to imply a link with the larger Turk-Islamic rug family spread westwards within the Mediterranean shores. Under this light, their unparalleled appearance even more displays their true charisma to which distinctive iconographic choices appear to have contributed.
We tried to seek their blueprints going as far back as possible. Yet, we did fix a limit - the discovery of a lost Golden Age associable with their actual aspect.
Although lingering on the millennial visual traditions preceding the arrival of Turk-stock tribes in Central Asia was not the target of this work, they were undoubtedly merged in such a multiform environment. Acting as a mid-region between the far-distant Eurasian poles, Central Asia was, in fact, long used to cultural syncretism favouring the resilience of many diverse roots. It should not wonder that ancient imageries could survive the ravage of Time surfacing in later periods and civilisations. The Turkmen visual language plausibly seems to be the result of a centuries-long process, a millennium at least, during which the original Turk heritage melted in a complex scenario.
TURKMEN MAIN CARPETS
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| Turkmen (Saryk) main carpet, 19th |
Turkmen main carpets are a classic of Oriental rugs, yet, definitely a unicum. No other provenance in the 'rug belt', in fact, exhibits with such a continuity only one layout - alternating major and minor devices (so-called guls). No different design has been ever recorded since the earliest pieces, allegedly dated to the 15th-17th century by scientific tests. Consequently, the question arises about its possible origin as well as cultural significance. Since the earliest carpets constitute a continuum with later pieces, the hypothesis of an older tradition must be claimed.
Does the classical equilibrium breathing in the best exemplars embody the spirit of a Golden Age?
Did a Golden Age ever exist and when did it sparkle? These questions may be of importance to a fresh appreciation of these weavings and are the compass in the following journey.
As odd as the term Golden Age may seem for a 'tribal-nomadic' outcome, we do apply it for its common usage in the rug domain. It usually refers to a historical period wherein a given culture enjoyed a political and artistic flourishing never repeated anew; a Classic Era responsible for an original notion of self-identity which expressed a distinctive artistic lexicon.
In the reconnaissance of a Turkmen one, the surviving carpets are the sole custodians of their secrets. Their designs, the guls, have received long scholarly attention conveyed by important literature. Yet, much is still to be deciphered, as Elena Tzareva pointed out coining for them an unparalleled term, 'Time Capsules'.
Indeed, the information they encapsulated might be unexpected. Recognizing iconographic choices may shed light also on the artistic milieu the Turkmen populations dealt with, submitting a further question: to which degree did they dialogue with the culture of the day maintaining their tradition?
But, what was the situation of the knotting art in the area first housing the Turk tribes arriving from inner Mongolia, their supposed cradle?
But, what was the situation of the knotting art in the area first housing the Turk tribes arriving from inner Mongolia, their supposed cradle?
'Carpets and rugs are mentioned in 3rd to 4th-century documents as given in payment or part-payment for a wide variety of wares, from women to camels. Finds of wooden weft beaters linked to pile making or tapestry weaving undoubtedly show that these types of textiles were produced in eastern Turkestan, today Singkiang. An analysis of some documents gives every reason to believe that carpets and rugs not only played an important part in the regional economy but that they were also produced locally and on a regular, organised basis. Making textiles was an important and culturally significant activity that may have been regularly practised in homes and, as some evidence suggests, possibly even in monastic establishments. The use of textiles as an efficient medium of exchange presupposes a fair degree of standardisation. Textiles and tools are representatives of a broad and diverse ancient material culture generating economic, social and cultural capital'. (V&A)
Documentary evidence confirms that in large areas of today-Singkiang, i.e. the Loulan kingdom, rugs were more favoured than silk bolts as standardised media of exchange at least since the first century AD. Their cultural and symbolic value is also attested by their presence in burial settings. Although it is hard to establish a range of possible patterns, a variety is firmly attested by the excavated fragments. Most plausibly, many traditions contributed, namely the nomadic Turco-Mongol and non-Han Chinese, the settled populations of diverse ethnicities and, obviously, the splendid concurrence of numerous Eurasian imageries crossing the Silk Roads.
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| Knotted woollen fragment, Loulan found, 150BC-60AD, V&A |
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| Weft beater, Loulan found 200AD |
Unfortunately, the least material evidence exists about ancient weaving and knotting tradition in the Oxus, Aral, and Caspian areas, although historical sources profusely mention it. Thus, it is relevant to remember what a cradle of human culture they had been.
Eneolithic to Bronze Age roughly sums up the ancient migrations West to East and vice-versa when the Near East and Indus Valley civilisations got to know each other via lively exchanges. BMAC (Bactriana Margiana Archeological complex), or Oxus culture, was the soil on which later Hellenistic Parthia, Sogdiana, and Bactriana blossomed. Sasanians and Chinese seeded the same soil in the first centuries of the Common Era. A splendid array of most ancient traditions, spiritual beliefs, and cosmological mindsets were lately to be subsumed by Islam at the end of the first millennium AD. Yet, the uniqueness of this ever-fertile soil veined with flexibility and inclusiveness favoured the steady symbiosis between nomadic and settled populations essential to one another. The potential risks of migrations have been transformed into an ever-enriching factor resulting also in a kaleidoscopic imagery.
The first known reign of the Turk tribes coming from inner Mongolia was established in two broad areas (eastern and western Central Asia) and they are supposed to have accepted to some extent the local traditions to best relate to local populations and enjoy the best economic opportunities of the Silk Roads.
Regarding the Oghuz tribes responsible for a large corpus of textiles woven in Central Asia, nothing certain is known about their Turkic ancestry. Yet, since they are scholarly accepted to belong to the same ethnic stock, we will shortly delve into the early history of the latter.
Regarding the Oghuz tribes responsible for a large corpus of textiles woven in Central Asia, nothing certain is known about their Turkic ancestry. Yet, since they are scholarly accepted to belong to the same ethnic stock, we will shortly delve into the early history of the latter.
THE TURK ERA IN EURASIA
The Oghuz
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| Northern Caucasus, early Middle Ages structures |
A historical overview of early Turk tribes conveys a diagram of their influential presence in the Eurasian zone and pinpoints an acme, duration and decrease wherein resilience was a seamless habit.
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| Eurasia, 500 AD |
The Gok Turks, one of the nomadic people living in inner Mongolia, did impressively arise in the history of Eurasia in the mid-VIth century when thanks to an array of alliances defeated the Juan Juan (a large and influential confederation of nomads), Khitans and Kyrgyz. They could overcome the Chinese Zhou and Qi dynasties as well, forcing them to pay tributes.
Soon facing the West, they conquered the Heftalite kingdom with the help of the Sasanian empire, and entered Transoxiana, Sogdian, and Qwarezmian cities; Bukhara and Samarkand became de facto their possession. Fighting then for the control of the Silk Roads, they could bypass the Sassanian and Byzantine closed frontiers conquering the southern road to India and the northern to the Aral steppes and eastern Europe. These campaigns broadened the Turk presence as conquerors, skilful artisans (blacksmiths in particular), and warriors.
Soon facing the West, they conquered the Heftalite kingdom with the help of the Sasanian empire, and entered Transoxiana, Sogdian, and Qwarezmian cities; Bukhara and Samarkand became de facto their possession. Fighting then for the control of the Silk Roads, they could bypass the Sassanian and Byzantine closed frontiers conquering the southern road to India and the northern to the Aral steppes and eastern Europe. These campaigns broadened the Turk presence as conquerors, skilful artisans (blacksmiths in particular), and warriors.
In 572, a great Turk empire was established over Eurasia able to join its extreme lands with remarkable consequences. Quite soon it split into two parts (582) of which the western Khaganate lasted till 743. This period is considered the Turk Era of Eurasia and, for a powerful empire was established, it is referred to as a Golden Age.
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| Eurasia, 572 AD |
Although the Turkification of the whole area began during the Hun-Heftalite migrations, it definitely deepened in this period despite a short formal suzerainty of the Tang dynasty, in the mid-7th century. The nomadic overlords mingled with the local traditions to the point of embracing Sogdian and Qwarezmian as official languages. New communities arose from the common interests of nomadic and settled ethnicities (Tocharian, Iranian, and northern nomadic stocks). But in the 8th century, their dominion was to falter because of complex historical events linked to the Islamic advent in Central Asia. After a wide Turkification, Central Asia underwent an as wide Islamisation to the extent that powerful Turk-Islamic dynasties emerged at the end of the millennium.
While there is historical evidence for surmising this early medieval period to represent a legendary Turk Golden Age, a unique Turk record speaks for it - the Orkhon funerary monument, mid-8th century (Orkhon Valley, Mongolia). The funerary inscriptions celebrate the Gok Khaganate's great accomplishments in economic development and international polities bearing the memory that numerous representatives from all over the world attended the impressive funeral ceremonies. Furthermore, period Chinese chronicles praise the magnificence of the period Turk court.
While there is historical evidence for surmising this early medieval period to represent a legendary Turk Golden Age, a unique Turk record speaks for it - the Orkhon funerary monument, mid-8th century (Orkhon Valley, Mongolia). The funerary inscriptions celebrate the Gok Khaganate's great accomplishments in economic development and international polities bearing the memory that numerous representatives from all over the world attended the impressive funeral ceremonies. Furthermore, period Chinese chronicles praise the magnificence of the period Turk court.
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| Kul Tigin, brother of Bilge Kaghan, Gok Turk d. 731 |
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| Bilge Kaghan tiara, d. 734, Khosho Tsaidam Memorial Site. |
By common scholarship, this relatively short period was of paramount significance for the Turks to reshape their own cultural identity. In fact, the unprecedented international relations with the three major settled civilisations - Byzantine, Sassanian, and Chinese - unveiled to their élites the necessity of coining their own kingship image. Their life world and beliefs should be included in a new visual language comprehensible to the new neighbours yet not subordinate to those sophisticated cultures. At the same time, the quickly achieved power called for as magnificent pageantry as displayed by their counterparts, following the rule 'wealth is power'.
While this period of Turk history has not been seriously addressed concerning weavings for no exemplars survived so far, it may be of some interest.
While this period of Turk history has not been seriously addressed concerning weavings for no exemplars survived so far, it may be of some interest.
The Oghuz
The history of the Oghuz, the forefathers of the Turkmen tribes, mingles into the large family of Eurasian nomads broadly categorized as proto-Turko-Mongol. Most plausibly, they belong to the same Turk groups roaming within the Juan Juan confederation.
Oghuz tribes established their own Khaganate in the first half of the VIth century in western China, today Sinkiang, profiting from the low and high ebbs of the local Juan Juan rulers finally defeated and subsumed by the emerging Gok Turk.
Internal tensions drove them to move to the Issyl Lake basin (Shanxi province) whence, afterwards, they drove west on the northern steppes ways. We find the Oghuz mentioned in the Orkhon steles, in Samanid and Arabic chronicles. These documents confirm them to have fled from eastern lands to Transoxiana and the northern steppes between the Aral and Caspian Sea, in the second half 8th ca. Nevertheless, there is scarce evidence the 'eastern' Oghuz tribes are the same as those later found in western lands, for the term Oghuz may have been used with its broad meaning - a large tribal confederation.
Internal tensions drove them to move to the Issyl Lake basin (Shanxi province) whence, afterwards, they drove west on the northern steppes ways. We find the Oghuz mentioned in the Orkhon steles, in Samanid and Arabic chronicles. These documents confirm them to have fled from eastern lands to Transoxiana and the northern steppes between the Aral and Caspian Sea, in the second half 8th ca. Nevertheless, there is scarce evidence the 'eastern' Oghuz tribes are the same as those later found in western lands, for the term Oghuz may have been used with its broad meaning - a large tribal confederation.
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| Al Tawarik, folio, 1238, Pilgrims' tents. |
However, it should be reasonable to imagine the Oghuz participating in the first Gok Turk empire partaking of the same cultural/artistic blossoming, and sharing similar politics and policies.
Religious, political, and commercial bonds were quickly established by the Oghuz tribes with the Abbasid Caliphate (758-1258), as 9th and 10th-century documents verify.
A capital was fixed in the lower part of the river Syr Darya, Jengi Ken, a fact that allowed them to be listed as 'kingly' people in 903. Qwarezm appears to have become their main emporium. The confederation was called Oghuz Yabgu State and their land 'Oghuz steppes'. These regions were crossed by the northern Silk Road, relived anew by the Turks at the end of the 6th century. Fruitful trades and profits were held by Sogdian and Qwarezmian merchants carrying their goods towards eastern and northern Europe involving also the Oghuz groups. Furthermore, the process of settling caused the creation of new communities mingled with other ethnicities and new perspectives on many fields.
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| Eurasia, 700 AD |
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| Oghuz State |
They appear engaged in the historical events of the day and turned Islamic in the early 11th century from mixed paganism. Although the many nomadic tribes were forcibly contrived by the Yabgu (the Khan) to remain within the confederation and comply with its policies, a dichotomy between the settled and the pastoral groups soon became a reason for constant upheavals. At the end of the 10th century, a branch split off, from which the Seljuk lineage emerged. This event was a turning point in the Oghuz fortune.
Meanwhile, the name 'Oghuz' was gradually replaced by Türkmen or Turkoman, a process completed by the beginning of the 13th century.
Mahmud Kashghari wrote in the 11th century an important Turkish language encyclopedia (Diva-nu Lughate-it-Turk, 1072 - 1074) whence much of what is known about these tribes is referred. Three hundred years later, Rashid al-Din offers a far more elaborate account including an Oghuz mythology (Jami-al-Tawarik). Abul Ghazi Bahadur Khan, ruler of Khiva (1643/44 until 1663) is the later rich source of information on the modern era events.
SHAPING A ROYAL PAGEANTRY
The Pearl Roundel
Alliances and wars led luxury and commodity goods lively circulate all throughout Eurasia. In this respect, the eager nature of Turk aristocrats to trade and boost their power must be mentioned.
The encampments of the Khagans became royal settlements where war booties, traded items, and royal gifts did not only stop at the royal properties. On the contrary, they were redistributed among kinsmen and affiliates as a sign of largess and bond.
The pastoral residences plausibly were veritable melting pots where various foreign artistic languages converged. Archaeological excavations in these regions have proved the presence of good typologies acknowledged as distinctive of diverse Eurasian civilisations, among them lots of silk fabric.
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| Yingpan Man, Tarim Basin found, textiles, 300-400AD (?) |
In the quest for effective self-representation and royal propaganda, the Turks probably selected designs among the ones resonating with their traditions - a common process within Eurasian civilisations as Sogdian and Heftalite exemplars show. In the cultural milieu of Central Asia, they could find traits complying with their supernatural imagery and beliefs.
The great novelty these hordes experienced in Central Asia was having fixed capital centres (Suya in the Ferghana Valley, and Kashgar in the Tarim Basin) mingling them with the settled culture. More fortresses and strategic settlements were built to protect and boost trade and political interests. Practising a settled life, the Turk élites adopted some local habits and features. Thus, it should not wonder if they became accustomed, for example, to use the period robe of honour as some frescoes in Afrasiab and Penjikent unveil. Mostly made of silk fabric depicted with roundels, it was much sought after by the aristocrats.
Most interestingly, by way of the northern Silk Road, this type was also used among populations bordering the Oghuz in the 9th and 10th centuries, such as the Alans, one of whose kingdoms were established North of the Caucasus.
Most interestingly, by way of the northern Silk Road, this type was also used among populations bordering the Oghuz in the 9th and 10th centuries, such as the Alans, one of whose kingdoms were established North of the Caucasus.
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| Alan culture, Sogdian silk, robe of honour, 9th-10th, Hermitage |
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| Alan culture, headdress designed like a helmet, covered with Sogdian Silk, 9th-10th |
Sogdian artisans and merchants were greatly responsible for the diffusion and lively survival of this pattern beyond the vanishing Sasanian empire (224-651 AD). Importantly, they are referred to as having worked on Chinese commission quite early, as proved by representations in the Tarim Basin. But, most of all, they were excellent traders able to forge these designs on the desiderata of the diverse feudal aristocracies of the day, as the Sogdian-Turfanese type testifies.
The roundel template depicting the pearl roundel and a secondary motif was received as a familiar standard in the visual habit of these areas.
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| Robes of honour, Kucha kingdom, Kizil caves, 432-538, Tarim Basin |
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| Robe of honour, fragment, silk, Central Asia, 7th-8th |
The Pearl Roundel
But, why the pearl roundel design, what is its appeal?
This pattern was adopted in Central Asia, specifically Sogdia, from Sasanian art, even though more ancient sources are to be considered. Likewise, it is found in the art of the nomadic populations of the steppes, like Scythian and Sarmatian artefacts testify. And, a similar device appears to be depicted in the Pazyryk carpet, part of a Scythian king's burial treasure, perhaps using Achaemenid-inspired designs. Despite it being difficult to ascertain the artistic relations between these cultures, the habit of adapting and adopting formulas and motifs shaped these moving empires's artistic output.
Finally, one can safely say that the pearl roundel design was a familiar image in Central Asia.
From the Sasanian period onwards the pattern became the craze of the day in silk textiles with important vestiges into the 13th century.
Finally, one can safely say that the pearl roundel design was a familiar image in Central Asia.
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| Scythian disk, 200-1 BC, The Metropolitan Museum |
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| Scythian carpet, Pazyryk found, 400 BC |
From the Sasanian period onwards the pattern became the craze of the day in silk textiles with important vestiges into the 13th century.
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| Sasanian royal emblem within a pearl roundel, 6th, Metropolitan Museum |
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| Sasanian silk fabric, 5th-6th |
The roundel, usually framing important characters, mythological animals, and symbolic designs, is easily comparable with the halo, a circular glow depicted around the head of sacred and important characters, widespread in various Central Asia cultures. In turn, the pearl was a mark of wisdom, true self, wish-fulfilling jewel, and embodiment of the celestial symbolism of the moon. It seemingly completed as well as enhanced the roundel's meaning. Pearl roundel silks were found also covering funerary masks attesting to the undeniable symbolism which they were imbued with.
Whatever image was framed within, it always connected secular power, divine favour, and prosperity wishes - traits shared by different traditions. In particular, the Sogdian versions privileged the representation of a sort of Eurasian animal pantheon much in tune with a steppe repertoire.
Used also for paying taxes as well as rewards and imperial gifts, these fabrics may be rightly referred to as a classical outcome of Central Asian culture as a whole. Obviously enough, they got to exert a great appeal on the steppe élites.
Rationally, an array of reasons made the pearl roundel an obvious choice to be displayed in Turk weavings.
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| Iran or Central Asia, 7th-8th, pearl halo crowning Khusrau II (?), The David Collection |
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| Sogdia, silk, 8th, fronting winged horses |
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| Central Asia, Afghanistan (?), 7th, boar's head and peacock, Metropolitan Museum |
TURK IMAGERY
It is necessary to verify whether Central Asian and Turk imagery could overlap reinforcing the hypothesis of their connection.
The scarce evidence regarding early Turk imagery, that is ante 565, can be deduced from petroglyphs, memorial steles, and coinage, the meaning of which scholars investigate thanks to descriptions found in the scripts themselves and contemporaneous Chinese chronicles.
Two designs should have been dominant in the kingship representation as royal marks (tamgha) of the two major ruling dynasties, the Ashina and Ashida. Their distinguishing marks were respectively the mountain goat/ibex and the snake/dragon. They were steadily used as symbols of power. Two more animals enjoyed a special status, the bird of prey and the horse. The former represents both a celestial being loaded with divine attributes connecting heavens and earth, and the falconry - an essential activity of the steppe nomads. Birds of prey were the second best companions of the nomads apt for herding and warfare, enjoying a celestial status in Eurasia as neatly displayed by added wings in silk depictions.
These images in Turk art may have had quite elegant and recognisable shapes, such as the 'falcon' carved on the stone tiara of Kul Tegin memorial statue (circa 730) or the horse stamped on a Turk coin (6th). Otherwise, in 'rural' environments, like in petroglyphs, designs were stylized and simplified.
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| Kul Tegin memorial, I half 8th, detail, Raptor |
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| Gok Turk coin, 6th, Horse and Crescent. |
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| Sogdia, fronting birds of prey, 8th-9th |
Yet, other royal marks as found on coins and seals. These were, again, the emblems (coats of arms) of a clan, tribe, or family among the nomadic populations of Eurasia. They represent mostly animals, more or less stylised, with totemic and protective functions. It should here be reminded that medieval chronicles record how Oghuz tribes' tamgha were mostly birds of prey. They are often matched with stars and crescents to reinforce the idea of the divine favour and origin of the ruling dynasty.
Indeed, the roundel pattern received many different shapes in silk fabrics and some of them may have been preferred, reworked and reused. Centuries later derived designs may be difficult to trace back, yet it is still possible to find evident relations between the actual Turkmen 'roundel' shapes (let us, for now, name this way the gul) and the silk ones. In the quest for blueprints we have chosen those Turkmen designs seemingly more congruent with them.
In a survey of the various Turkmen gul shapes, the chuval gul and the gulli-gul stand out, plus the octagonal type.
The octagon does not overpopulate roundel fabrics either as a primary or secondary motif. Nevertheless, one can consider it to be the simplest reduction of a roundel, especially if applied to the knotted technique. It is usually found in the Arabatchi tauk-nuska gul, Karadashli, Temirjin and occasionally others.
Interestingly enough, the octagon seems to be reserved for specific designs with a more evident 'tribal' or non-urban accent, for they are mostly associated with 'rural' designs like animals, kotchanak, and others.
The Salor gulli-gul shape might be tentatively defined as the synthesis of various roundel types resulting in a polilobed form.
Quite interestingly, a polilobed medallion is exhibited in a stucco decoration from the late phase of the Afrasiab palace decoration (9th-11th) where a full mastery of its decorative nature appears. It does not make wonder if it became a formula in early Timurid art, and, consequently, in Central Asian decorative repertoire. A Chinese lineage may also be underlined because of the tons of Chinese silks circulating in Central Asia during the Yuan period. The Chagatai khanate and the Golden Horde were once more widely expanding the Chinese pattern where a similar polilobed medallion was a usual design.
The Secondary Motif
THE YEAR 1000 AND A SHIFTING IMAGERY
In this respect, essential was the engagement of the wandering Sufis for their ability to mingle older beliefs and Islamic conceits. They spread the new religion at Turk courts and nomadic groups as well. New decorative typologies were moulded to comply with both the Islamic proscription of figural images and the necessity of imbuing art with the new religious conceits. Roughly said, geometry, floral design, and calligraphy will constitute a new lexicon permeating Islamic art from then on.
Linked to ancient observations of celestial and earthly events, geometric design developed its own patterns and symbology since very ancient times. Over the Middle Ages, great scientific achievements (geometry, astronomy, and mathematics), as well as the developing art of calligraphy, became two more catalysts for a new visual language.
Starting from Transoxiana and Qwarezm to eastern regions (today Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) and southern (today Afghanistan), a consistent style is easily evidenced through architecture. The Samanid style in Bukhara possibly inaugurated this new era finally entombing the figural imagery of royalty and divinity of pre-Islamic Sogdian murals.
However, it is in the core of Central Asia, Afrasiab (old Samarkand), that we can glimpse the original nature of the new vocabulary.
The Kharakhanid decoration looks like voicing a specific aesthetic plausibly originated in the eastern Turk Khaganate. There a reciprocated cultural exchange with China had since long occurred and the nomadic steppe tradition was already rooted and ripened.
In this regard, it is interesting to note how a small group of rugs found in Anatolia and classified as 'Seljuk' seem related to these small unit formats. They are so consistent with the Kharakhanid decoration of Aisha Bibi's to the extent to properly fit such a building as in a planned visual project. Probably the Kharakhanid artists fished in the same decorative pool as the Turkmen Oghuz.
But these carpets allegedly woven during the Seljuk dominion in Asia Minor, do not show any link with the 'roundel' types, although the Seljuks did appreciate them.
THE YEAR 1000 AND A PIECEMEAL REALITY
RESHAPING DESIGNS
So, can we recognise the three new decorative elements in place of the previous animalistic imagery? And, from where have they been sourced?
Not for nothing, the same structure of superimposed geometric forms can be detected in other significant Turk-derived weaving traditions. In early Ottoman Anatolia, they gave birth to some of the most famous groups of carpets - the so-called Holbein and Ushak variants which Robert Pinner properly illustrated as 'substrate designs'.
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The Gulli Gul and the Floral Design
This type of gul possibly adds another tessera to understand the weavers' creative process.
In this case, the template is very steady.
We have seen how Islam caused the blooming of an endemic geometric style combined with floral elements. Over time, a vegetal décor replaced the interlacing geometries, yet maintaining the same self-generating structure - interlacing vines embellished with buds, lotuses, palmettes and leaves. In this regard, the Chinese floral designs circulating in Eurasia since the Han period (200BC-220AD) should be reminded of as one essential influence via silk and pottery. From then on, several waves of Chinese art invaded Central Asia, i.e. during the Liao, Yuan and Timurid periods.
However, the 'floral' context might explain the peculiar finials of the four-directions motif in the gulli gul. Although it appears in many cases with kotchanak finials, when the organiser of the device, it often times recalls a lotus shape rendered like a close bud with flanking reclining leaves. It may be related also to the cloud collar design, one more meaningful device in Central Asia. The same camouflage to the finials can appear in the chuval gul - buds in place of birds.
Again, parallels are easy to be found in the Near Eastern basin. After all, Timurid artefacts of all types and paper scrolls as exemplars, travelled throughout and beyond the empire's borders. Nonetheless, given the great proximity of the Turkmen to their cradle, a prompt appropriation of such models should be suspected to give their weavers a sort of primacy.
It should not anymore appal the evident similarity of an early Ottoman motif with a classic of the Turkmen output, the Tekke main gul. The influence of the Timurid decorative language in early Ottoman art has been scholarly underlined (G. Necipoglu). And again, a stunning affinity with a type of Mamluk designs appears.
A Special Gulli Gul
Regarding the Saryk black diamond, two further comparisons with early Anatolian designs are compelling - one with the 'Ghirlandaio' medallion with knots, the other with the cruciform gul in the Small Holbein Pattern - where knots and buds blend into each other.
Interestingly enough, the Turret gul chuval presents an identical secondary gul as that in the Small Medallion Holbein type.
Calligraphy
Artistic inscriptions first and calligraphy later became an essential part of the Turk Islamic visual art in its various declinations, not least textiles. A significant element in the architectural decorative system, it was diffusely applied to textiles spread on the floor as plenty of miniatures show since early times. It is also represented in late pearl roundel silks (12th and 13th century).
It should be safe to hypothesise it to be conveniently displayed in early Turkmen rugs as the contemporaneous Seljuk did.
As an array of Anatolian rugs confirm, it underwent a manifold of reworking where a precise script and meaning were not any more important but the charisma it added to the artefact. That is the reason for it to be called kufesque design meaning a design derived from the kufic script. That said, there are few proper words maintained visible like the case of the 'lam alif', or 'al mulk', referring to the Almighty. This very sign extraordinarily appears in some early Turkmen rugs verifying, if ever, the blend of calligraphy in the border designs.
Other examples are well discerned in the dedicated literature.
One more example may be of use here. The structure of the following border, typical for Salor main carpets, can't but remind a reworked version of the lam alif: the knotted design has been isolated from the vertical elements, while the latter form the white grid (see Speculations on the "Kufic" Border in Orient Rugs in the Pacific Collection, p.121). More cogent is the presence of a similar design in Sogdian art (see the robe's border in the fresco) and in Anatolian classic carpets (see the Small Medallion Holbein's border and its halved pattern use).
Arguably, the usage of kufesque designs on the borders of their rugs should overtly persuade of the open mindset these 'tribal' populations were imbued with.
The Temirjin gul might again hold an enciphered trace of a Sogdian decorative element. The typical design repeated in the four sections of the gul seems to be a vestige of the usual ribbon gracing the celestial animals depicted in the pearl roundels. Although originally rendered in a fluent design, the flapping ribbon seen in Sogdian silks usually morphed in contracted folds. In this context, the Temirjin motif may be a further contraction and reworking when the original meaning was lost, although different interpretations are possible.
It is not here the case to discuss other guls wherein the usual compound seems to be destroyed and recomposed into new unpredictable shapes. Yet, the carpet's format remained unaltered. Crescent, star, four-directions and kotchanak motifs, geometric forms and other designs usually grace them. Nevertheless, the visual result, once more, reflects the formidable ability to mould new designs by disruption and recreation.
These types not only testify to a receptive mindset able to adapt new designs to a traditional layout but also to the human need to create new forms within and despite the frame of tradition.
EPILOGUE
The composition of the steppe empires usually generated a large variety of situations and ever-shifting structures. Ongoing alliances with new clients-patrons, new communities created with different ethnic groups, swinging polities, eager need for control on the trade roads and emporiums were essential players in the game.
Although initially roaming groups, the steppe élites largely proved over Great History a genetic aptitude to settle and dominate the territory like the Scythians to the West and the Juan Juan to the East did. They used to have permanent settlements of various sizes from the most peripheral to the closest to the power centre. Not rarely intermarried with the settled aristocracies, nomadic overlords are referred to as real kings outfitted with a magnificent display of kingship which was diffused among kinsmen and affiliates whose echoes arrived down to the lower strata of the population.
Much more complex than commonly acknowledged, the Turk social organisation at the higher levels usually improved non-tribal bonds and introduced unexpected freedom to the strict rules of tribal life to the point of changing their social rites (i.e. marriage and burial customs). The many foreigners present in the Khaganal residences (i.e. Sogdians and Chinese) played an important role in this respect. The institutional and ideological legacy of the Turk organisation in Central Asia, although shortly lasted, bequeathed long-lasting traditions.
Turk imagery and art were congruously reshaped during this Golden Age - 1000 to 1500 - and in all likelihood originated both in royal encampments and urban settings with an arguable degree of variety. A tradition might have been shaped to be revered and carried on over a long period up to the actual carpets.
Post scriptum
Other consequences may be deduced from this perspective but they are far too lengthy for this type of short 'loom'.
Bibliography
Tsareva E., Rugs and Carpets from Central Asia, 1985
Tsareva E., Turkmen Carpets
Masterpieces of Steppe Art, from 16th to 19th Centuries The Hoffmeister Collection, 2011
Moshkova, V.G. edited by George W. O'Bannon: Carpets of the People of Central Asia. Tucson: 1996.
http://www.rugtracker.com/2014/09/yomutgol-without-tribe.html
Carpets from Turkmenistan, http://weavingartmuseum.org/carpets/plateintroa.html
Taylor, J., Saryk main Carpets , http://www.rugtracker.com/2015/12/saryk-main-carpet-review.html?spref=fb
Azadi, Siawosch, Turkoman Carpets and the Ethnographic Significance of Their Ornaments, Fishguard, 1975, Crosby Press.
O'Bannon, George, The Turkoman Carpet, London, Duckworth, 1974.
Beattie, May, "Pile and Flat-Weaves: Technical Notes," The Turcoman of Iran , P.A. Andrews, London, 1971, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, pp. 37-41.
Bogolubov, A. A. The Carpets of Central Asia, Edited by J.M.A. Thompson, Ramsdell, Hampshire, 1973, Crosby Press.
Clark, Hartley, Bokhara, Turkoman and Afghan Rugs, London, l922, John Lane.
David, Michael, "Turkoman Rugs: the Birth of a New Mythology," Tribal Visions, Novato, 1980,
Marin Cultural Center, pp. 17-22.
Eiland, Murray, Oriental Rugs from Western Collections, Berkeley, 1973.
Eiland, Murray, "Origins of Turkoman Guls," Oriental Rug Review, July, 1982.
Eiland, Murray, "Speculations around the Development of Turkoman Rug Designs, Tribal Visions, Novato, 1980, Marin Cultural Center
Hoffmeister, Peter, Turkoman Carpets in Franconia , Edinburgh, 1980, Crosby.
Imreli Not Sure," HALI, March, 1987, No. 33, p. 26.
Kearney, Lawrence, "Whither Turkomania?" Oriental Rug Review , January, 1982, p. 8.
Loges, Werner, Turkmenische Teppiche, Munich, 1978, Bruckma
Pinner, R., and Franses,M., Turkoman Studies I , London, 1980, Oguz Press.
Pinner R., Eiland M., Between the Black Desert and the Red, 1999.
Reed, C.D., Turkoman Rugs, Boston, 1966, Fogg Art Museum.
Schürmann, Ulrich, Central Asian Rugs, Frankfurt, Osterriech, 1969.
Thompson, Jon. Central Asian Rugs, Supplement One, London, 1977, Lefevre and Partners, page not numbered.
Thompson, Jon and Mackie, Louise, Türkmen, Washington, 1980, The Textile Museum.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/research-journal/issue-no.-7-autumn-2015/a-weft-beater-from-niya-making-a-case-for-the-local-pro
James C. Y. Watt, Anne E. Wardwell, When Silk was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese TextilesCleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Babayarov Gaybullah, The Tamgas of the Co-Ruling Ashina and Ashida Dynasties as Royal Tamgas of the Turkic Kaghanate, 2010.
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| Gok Turk coin, 6th-7th, verso with royal mark |
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| Gok Turk coin, 7th-8th, verso with royal mark |
Although it is definitely impossible to assume which motifs could have appeared in the royal Turk fabrics patterned with pearl roundel, horse, ibex, raptor, moon, and stars reasonably are on the list. On the other hand, the Tree of Life and related vegetal forms can be added for their universal meaning.
THE PEARL ROUNDEL - FROM SILK TO KNOTS
Reshaping Roundels
The Secondary Motif
The question as to whether or not Turk weavers wove 'pearl roundel patterned' rugs opens a second question - whether such format had been ever knotted in that period. After all, it appears also in other visual media (i.e. architectural decoration in frescoes and stucco work, seals, and coins) surmising a common use.
Unfortunately, no documentary and material evidence exist to prove it had ever been transferred into rugs by local settled populations, be they Sogdian or others. Nevertheless, two interesting facts do surface in the 7th-8th century Penjikent palace's murals, a significant place.
While representing prominent characters (most probably Sogdians) dressing in pearl roundel patterned cloths, they unveil the same design woven into saddles. Since the affinity between trappings and rugs is a matter of fact in later periods, it should be considered also in these earlier times. Furthermore, the scarce representation of textiles for use on the floor (rugs, if ever) displays the use of the roundel at the border. Thus, these two points should invite us to reflect on whether urban elitès have transferred this format into rugs. To this respect, it is important to add that some Sogdians occasionally dressed in Turkic clothes and used the Turk language and alphabet, facts further surmising a real symbiosis between the two populations. As a consequence, one can ask if the Turks had imitated local silk fabrics and rugs. Unmistakably, the resemblance of the actual Turkmen format and the pearl roundel pattern calls for a shared lineage, although a proper pearl roundel is not to be seen in any Turkmen carpet.
THE PEARL ROUNDEL - FROM SILK TO KNOTS
Reshaping Roundels
The Secondary Motif
The question as to whether or not Turk weavers wove 'pearl roundel patterned' rugs opens a second question - whether such format had been ever knotted in that period. After all, it appears also in other visual media (i.e. architectural decoration in frescoes and stucco work, seals, and coins) surmising a common use.
Unfortunately, no documentary and material evidence exist to prove it had ever been transferred into rugs by local settled populations, be they Sogdian or others. Nevertheless, two interesting facts do surface in the 7th-8th century Penjikent palace's murals, a significant place.
While representing prominent characters (most probably Sogdians) dressing in pearl roundel patterned cloths, they unveil the same design woven into saddles. Since the affinity between trappings and rugs is a matter of fact in later periods, it should be considered also in these earlier times. Furthermore, the scarce representation of textiles for use on the floor (rugs, if ever) displays the use of the roundel at the border. Thus, these two points should invite us to reflect on whether urban elitès have transferred this format into rugs. To this respect, it is important to add that some Sogdians occasionally dressed in Turkic clothes and used the Turk language and alphabet, facts further surmising a real symbiosis between the two populations. As a consequence, one can ask if the Turks had imitated local silk fabrics and rugs. Unmistakably, the resemblance of the actual Turkmen format and the pearl roundel pattern calls for a shared lineage, although a proper pearl roundel is not to be seen in any Turkmen carpet.
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| Penjikent murals, 6th-8th, camel saddle with roundel design |
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| Penjikent, Sogdian murals, 6th-8th, rug-like fabric |
Reshaping Roundels
In a survey of the various Turkmen gul shapes, the chuval gul and the gulli-gul stand out, plus the octagonal type.
Interestingly enough, the octagon seems to be reserved for specific designs with a more evident 'tribal' or non-urban accent, for they are mostly associated with 'rural' designs like animals, kotchanak, and others.
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| Sogdian or Chinese culture, 8th, octagonal roundel |
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| Central Asia, silk robe of honour, octagonal secondary motif, 11th |
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| Octagonal gul, Arabatchi tauk-nuska gul , 18th |
There is though a unique connection between the Turkmen octagon and the silk designs when looking at a few 'Sogdian' fabrics composed of an octagonal grid and a stepped rhombus in the intersections. Surprisingly, a Yomut-related main carpet appears mimicking a similar format of staggered rows of octagons and stepped rhombuses. One can't but notice the stricking parallel of vocabulary although differently used.
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| Central/East Asia silk fabric, 7th-8th century |
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| Main carpet, Turkmenistan, ca. 1800 |
Quite interestingly, a polilobed medallion is exhibited in a stucco decoration from the late phase of the Afrasiab palace decoration (9th-11th) where a full mastery of its decorative nature appears. It does not make wonder if it became a formula in early Timurid art, and, consequently, in Central Asian decorative repertoire. A Chinese lineage may also be underlined because of the tons of Chinese silks circulating in Central Asia during the Yuan period. The Chagatai khanate and the Golden Horde were once more widely expanding the Chinese pattern where a similar polilobed medallion was a usual design.
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| Polilobed gul, Salor gulli-gul, Salor mc, 19th, M. Therani Gallery |
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| Sasanian textile, 6th-7th, lobed/petalled roundel, Cleveland Museum |
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| Sogdian textile, lobed/petalled roundel, 7th-8th |
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| Sogdian textile, 7th-8th, ornated roundel profile. |
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| Late Afrasiab phase, 9th-11th, Museum of Afrasiab |
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| Yuan silk, LACMA |
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| Samarkanda, Sha-i-Zindah, late 14th |
The chuval gul shape may hark back to a somewhat later device. It, in fact, reminds more of a cartouche-like form traceable also in architectural decoration. It looks like the result of overlapped curved and angular shapes. In fabrics, although not a frequently represented design, it appears both as a primary and secondary motif.
The geometric nature and the substrate of overlapped shapes evident in the outline will be of merit in defining also the internal decoration of the chuval gul, as we will see later.
The geometric nature and the substrate of overlapped shapes evident in the outline will be of merit in defining also the internal decoration of the chuval gul, as we will see later.
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| Chuval gul, Yomud, 19th |
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| Secondary motif, Sogdian textile, 8th-9th |
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| Primary design, Byzantine textile 9th-10th, Abegg-Stiftung |
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| Ummayad stucco, mid-8th, The Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem. |
The Secondary Motif
Regarding the secondary gul, Turkmen carpets sport a variety of the four-directions motif, diminished and simplified versions of primary guls, and other designs. A similar variety is seen in the original pearl roundel fabrics, but surely the most distinctive type is the four-directions motif.
Often displaying a floral guise in the blueprints (Sasanian, Sogdian and Tang), it is well represented in Turkmen main carpets. Usually, it is translated into a geometrised design with floral vestiges.
Nonetheless, the richness of these motifs should merit a dedicated survey, which is not the case here.
Often displaying a floral guise in the blueprints (Sasanian, Sogdian and Tang), it is well represented in Turkmen main carpets. Usually, it is translated into a geometrised design with floral vestiges.
Nonetheless, the richness of these motifs should merit a dedicated survey, which is not the case here.
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| Four directional motif, Sogdian baby jacket, 8th |
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| Sogdian textile, 7th-8th |
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| Secondary motif, Yomud frag |
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| Secondary gul, Yomud |
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| Secondary gul, Saryk mc frag. |
THE YEAR 1000 AND A SHIFTING IMAGERY
After the opening assumption was that nomadic populations had used the pearl roundel pattern and a bestiary decoration, it is necessary to delve into a realistic scene and analysis. In the meantime, the historical panorama was changing blowing away the customary animal beings.
The symbolical year 1000, much resonating with Western sensibility, represents a marking point of a shifting cultural prospect in Central Asia. This period saw, in fact, the birth of the first Turk-Islamic dynasties which were soon to become the leading drive of all Eurasia from eastern Turkestan to the western Mediterranean shores. Islam was a main character in this game and, despite all, a cohesive factor able to coalesce new policies and politics. Art was just in the middle of the process.
The symbolical year 1000, much resonating with Western sensibility, represents a marking point of a shifting cultural prospect in Central Asia. This period saw, in fact, the birth of the first Turk-Islamic dynasties which were soon to become the leading drive of all Eurasia from eastern Turkestan to the western Mediterranean shores. Islam was a main character in this game and, despite all, a cohesive factor able to coalesce new policies and politics. Art was just in the middle of the process.
The Islamic conquest of Central Asia, beginning in the middle of the 8th century, essentially resulted in a cultural invasion against 'paganism'. Islam was going to be diffused with any means to repress and replace the religious diversity hitherto characterizing Central Asian populations. However, the process of Islamization proceeded very slowly. Often, forcibly converted individuals secretly remained adherent to their beliefs.
Imposing an altering self-identity system unmistakably involved a Sisyphus effort. Nonetheless, two distinguished features of Central Asian mindset - flexibility, and receptivity - undoubtedly played a big role in the process of assimilating the new cultural parameters.
This least known period (8th, 9th, and 10th century) became paramount to developing new iconographies in all the 'rug belt'. But, unfortunately again, scarce material evidence prevents from submitting a satisfying reconstruction of the smooth changes that occurred in art, least of all the knotted medium.
A reasonable sketch should anyhow stress how many traits of diverse traditions were incorporated into the Islamic stream. As well, it should suggest a quicksilver aspect of visual arts wherein old and new cohabited for a while.
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| Ghaznavid, painted wooden box, 12th. |
In this respect, essential was the engagement of the wandering Sufis for their ability to mingle older beliefs and Islamic conceits. They spread the new religion at Turk courts and nomadic groups as well. New decorative typologies were moulded to comply with both the Islamic proscription of figural images and the necessity of imbuing art with the new religious conceits. Roughly said, geometry, floral design, and calligraphy will constitute a new lexicon permeating Islamic art from then on.
Linked to ancient observations of celestial and earthly events, geometric design developed its own patterns and symbology since very ancient times. Over the Middle Ages, great scientific achievements (geometry, astronomy, and mathematics), as well as the developing art of calligraphy, became two more catalysts for a new visual language.
Starting from Transoxiana and Qwarezm to eastern regions (today Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) and southern (today Afghanistan), a consistent style is easily evidenced through architecture. The Samanid style in Bukhara possibly inaugurated this new era finally entombing the figural imagery of royalty and divinity of pre-Islamic Sogdian murals.
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| Samanid culture (819-999), Mausoleum in Bukhara, |
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| Bukhara, Varakhsah Palace, 7th-8th |
After the fall of the Samanids, Qwarezmian art developed the style with significant use of ornated calligraphy wherein vegetal forms played an increasing role.
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| Qwarezm, Urgench, Mausoleum of Qho-Rezmanshah II, 12th |
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| Qwarezm, Urgench, Mausoleum of Qho-Rezmanshah II, 12th |
At the eastern pole of Central Asia, similar visual treatments were developed by the Turk Kharakhanid dynasty established in the late 10th century.
Stunning is the mingling of interlaced geometric patterns, highly refined calligraphy, and richly decorated medallions embellished with vegetal ornaments, declaring a ripe art. Interestingly, similarities join the artistic expressions in diverse Turk-Islamic kingdoms - in the West, the Near East, Egypt, and Spain.
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| Kharakhanid Uzgen, Mosque, 11th-12th |
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| Kharakhanid Uzgen, mosque, wooden panel, 11th-12th |
However, it is in the core of Central Asia, Afrasiab (old Samarkand), that we can glimpse the original nature of the new vocabulary.
Some stucco works have been studied and thought of as conveying complex religious and cosmological symbolism. Each form (eight-pointed star, hexagram, swastika, nine-petal flower) arranged in various combinations likely reportedly represents an enciphered version of heathen beliefs while adhering to a non-figural imagery prescribed by Islam. In turn, the permeating presence of vegetal forms expresses the integrity of macro and micro-cosmo. The pearl roundel is still alive.
These emblematic images from ancient civilisations partecipated in the new lexicon as a testament to the long-lasting syncretism of Central Asia.
These emblematic images from ancient civilisations partecipated in the new lexicon as a testament to the long-lasting syncretism of Central Asia.
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| Afrasyab, 'Hidden Texts', 9th-10th |
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| Afrasyab, panel, 10th |
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| Indo-European image of an astronomical and cosmological indication, 3000BC, Harappa site |
This unpredictable panorama reveals other aniconic designs accepted in the Islamic orbit. One such type is present in the Kharakhanid mosque of Aisha Bibi, today Kazakhstan, built 11th-12th century. Its external structure is bedecked with simple decorative units which are claimed to be a symbolic heritage of ancient Turkic culture. One of them appears to be the ubiquitous four-directions design sported in two classic outlays, the orthogonal and the 45-degree rotated version, with curled Chinese-inspired leaf finials, which in a later terminology are often called 'kotchanak', that is bull horns.
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| Aisha Bibi Mosque, Taraz, 11th-12th |
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| Aisha Bibi Mosque, detail |
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| Bactriana jewels, gold. |
The Kharakhanid decoration looks like voicing a specific aesthetic plausibly originated in the eastern Turk Khaganate. There a reciprocated cultural exchange with China had since long occurred and the nomadic steppe tradition was already rooted and ripened.
In this regard, it is interesting to note how a small group of rugs found in Anatolia and classified as 'Seljuk' seem related to these small unit formats. They are so consistent with the Kharakhanid decoration of Aisha Bibi's to the extent to properly fit such a building as in a planned visual project. Probably the Kharakhanid artists fished in the same decorative pool as the Turkmen Oghuz.
But these carpets allegedly woven during the Seljuk dominion in Asia Minor, do not show any link with the 'roundel' types, although the Seljuks did appreciate them.
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| Seljuk fragmented rug, 12th, TIEM |
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| Aisha Bibi |
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| Seljuk fragment, Konya Ethnographic Museum |
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| Aisha Bibi mosque, main portal |
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| Seljuk robe, 1020-1160, Iran or Central Asia, The Al Thani Collection |
THE YEAR 1000 AND A PIECEMEAL REALITY
Unlike other Turk groups able to establish geopolitical powerhouses in the 11th-13th century, the Oghuz accomplished a short acme of power in 1041-1042, when Malik was appointed by the Ghaznavids as Shah of Qwarezm in the capital Urgench. Prematurely defeated and banished, they soon after vanished. Many were dispersed in bordering areas and there subsumed. Others settled in the Caspian Mangyslak plateau, and others fled to the southwest areas of Central Asia. Slipped back to a pastoral semi-nomadic life the Oghuz-Türkmen were soon eclipsed and regionalized in the Mongol and Timurid polities.
This period saw the birth of the Oghuz Narrative wherein the need to communicate a convenient cultural heritage in a time of empire formation is clearly present. Far from the pure nomadic Tengrism, the new legend claims more inclusive old-age traditions spanning from a Biblical ancestry and a long-aged monotheism to links with Alexander the Great. Such multifarious mythology resonates with the 'open mindset' that had previously accepted Nestorianism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Rather accordingly, the extreme result was the conversion to Islam.
In Mangyslak a new Confederation was forged by the powerful Salor tribe, whence the genealogy of the Turkmen tribes, as we today know them, originated with the later contribution of added tribes from bordering areas. But despite their active role in the area, they never returned to the previous status of princely splendour.
This period saw the birth of the Oghuz Narrative wherein the need to communicate a convenient cultural heritage in a time of empire formation is clearly present. Far from the pure nomadic Tengrism, the new legend claims more inclusive old-age traditions spanning from a Biblical ancestry and a long-aged monotheism to links with Alexander the Great. Such multifarious mythology resonates with the 'open mindset' that had previously accepted Nestorianism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. Rather accordingly, the extreme result was the conversion to Islam.
In Mangyslak a new Confederation was forged by the powerful Salor tribe, whence the genealogy of the Turkmen tribes, as we today know them, originated with the later contribution of added tribes from bordering areas. But despite their active role in the area, they never returned to the previous status of princely splendour.
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| The Mangyslak peninsula in the brown circle |
This sort of regression from a greater geopolitical arena plausibly shaped an even stronger self-pride that could only rely on tradition and the dream of a Golden Age. Preserving a traditional iconography was a way to feel still part of the Great History. But, we can't expect the Turkmen to be separated from the mainstream of their cultural basin, and we can't assume that the designs in their main carpets suddenly arose in the 15th-17th century. On the other hand, this last period may sign their last princely-like experience, for some of them succeeded in short periods in taking over the power of some Uzbek khans. Such historical events, fully elucidated by others, might explain the noble aura of some of the earliest survived main carpets and related weavings.
The breakdown of the Oghuz Confederation caused several consequences. A tribal unity was replaced by a piecemeal reality probably reflected in weavings. Such a situation could have boosted the birth of idiomatic designs, but whether they expressed the identity of individual groups is, again, speculative. A certain variety, in fact, should have been part of traditional iconography.
Obviously, the conversion to Islam and the slow shift to a new visual language drive us to presume a change of imagery in their carpets. Adapting to new habits - a survival technique ever since - likely drove them to add to the roundel/gul the new aforementioned elements: geometrical patterns, floral designs, and calligraphy.
Obviously, the conversion to Islam and the slow shift to a new visual language drive us to presume a change of imagery in their carpets. Adapting to new habits - a survival technique ever since - likely drove them to add to the roundel/gul the new aforementioned elements: geometrical patterns, floral designs, and calligraphy.
RESHAPING DESIGNS
So, can we recognise the three new decorative elements in place of the previous animalistic imagery? And, from where have they been sourced?
It is safe enough to imagine the Turkmen not to abruptly abandon the heathen images. The new aesthetic requirements were plausibly fulfilled by settled Turkmen and those more closely related to the commercial emporiums and consequently adopted by the peripheral groups.
The Chuval Gul and Geometry
The following analysis of the chuval gul design focuses on delineating an imaginary template for a manifold of descendants and variations.
There is a spell on how the design is masterfully conceived - almost a geometry theorem - compelling comparisons with geometrical patterns seen in architectural decoration. Surmising the latter to be a source for 'tribal' patterns may be paradoxical, but rational rather when one reflects on the historical and political situations powerful Turkmen clans lived. A stigma of Islamic art, interlaced geometric patterns were easily available as design repertoire.
The Chuval Gul and Geometry
The following analysis of the chuval gul design focuses on delineating an imaginary template for a manifold of descendants and variations.
There is a spell on how the design is masterfully conceived - almost a geometry theorem - compelling comparisons with geometrical patterns seen in architectural decoration. Surmising the latter to be a source for 'tribal' patterns may be paradoxical, but rational rather when one reflects on the historical and political situations powerful Turkmen clans lived. A stigma of Islamic art, interlaced geometric patterns were easily available as design repertoire.
Several versions capture the eye with forms inscribed in one another -some of them as the octagon and the eight-pointed star are essential motifs in geometrical symbolism. The governing reason for this gul seems to be the idea of an interlaced device emerging from a geometrical net to become a self-sufficient pattern in space. Supporting this interpretation, dynamic chromaticism suggests a three-dimensional aspect. And, in fact, these architectural patterns have been poignantly interpreted as reductions of three-dimensional designs to a surface (G. Neciplogu). The chuval gul looks like a prismatic roundel, the latter filled with interlaced shapes.
Nonetheless, it does not avoid hinting at the original lifeworld - it appears governed by the four-directions symbol whose orthogonal lines are often crested with bird heads, an ancient steppe theme.
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| Paradigmatic chuval gul, (Yomud torba, De Young Museum), tcoletribalrugs.com photo courtesy |
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| Yomud m.c., 15th-17th, Sovrani Tappeti, plate 108 |
Such typology of decoration - geometrical net punctuated by recurring motifs - continued to be an essential part of Timurid architecture from its inception.
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| Samarkand, Bibi Khanum minaret, late 14th
The only textiles depicting such interlacings, otherwise typical of tile, stucco and woodwork, are Spanish silks of the Nasrid period (Muslim Spain, 1232-1492) roughly dating to the same period as the supposed blueprints of our gul.
They also show the possible process of introducing the primary-secondary gul interplay into purely geometrical patterns. In this respect, the spreading of Turk-stock groups turned Islamic towards the Near East and the Mediterranean shores may have been partly responsible for the style and requirements diffused beyond the Central Asian borders. Later Timurid miniatures show an array of parallel patterns likewise. |
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| Nasrid silk fragment, Fundaciòn Làzaro Galdiano Madrid |
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| Nasrid silk fragment |
Not for nothing, the same structure of superimposed geometric forms can be detected in other significant Turk-derived weaving traditions. In early Ottoman Anatolia, they gave birth to some of the most famous groups of carpets - the so-called Holbein and Ushak variants which Robert Pinner properly illustrated as 'substrate designs'.
Therefore, we might consider including this type of device, the chuval gul, in a wide visual language distinguishing the Turk-Islamic weaving art spanning from Central Asia to Mamluk Egypt throughout Anatolia.
In our vision, integrating Turkmen carpets into an international scene will further elaborate their uniqueness and merits.
In our vision, integrating Turkmen carpets into an international scene will further elaborate their uniqueness and merits.
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| Diagram of interlaced geometrical shapes, exemplar. |
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| Anatolia, medallion rug, Vakiflar Museum, 15th-16th |
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| Mamluk Egypt, central medallion detail, 15th-16th, Berlin Museum |
The Gulli Gul and the Floral Design
This type of gul possibly adds another tessera to understand the weavers' creative process.
In this case, the template is very steady.
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| Salor main carpet fragment, Gulli gul |
We have seen how Islam caused the blooming of an endemic geometric style combined with floral elements. Over time, a vegetal décor replaced the interlacing geometries, yet maintaining the same self-generating structure - interlacing vines embellished with buds, lotuses, palmettes and leaves. In this regard, the Chinese floral designs circulating in Eurasia since the Han period (200BC-220AD) should be reminded of as one essential influence via silk and pottery. From then on, several waves of Chinese art invaded Central Asia, i.e. during the Liao, Yuan and Timurid periods.
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| Eastern Central Asia, silk embroidery, 12th-14th, The Metropolitan |
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| Central Asia (Nishapur?), 11th |
In a short time, a new artistic bloom occurred during the reign of Timur thanks to his 'Princely Vision'. Many of the decorative formulas elaborated by his courtly laboratories expanded the creative possibilities of Islamic art and became exemplary sources of inspiration.
If ever a simplistic definition could account for a typical Timurid decoration, one might rightly say the complex Islamic geometries have been transformed into an ordered apparatus of vegetal elements in various fluent arrangements.
If ever a simplistic definition could account for a typical Timurid decoration, one might rightly say the complex Islamic geometries have been transformed into an ordered apparatus of vegetal elements in various fluent arrangements.
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| Central Asia, Timurid art, fragmented decoration, late 14th |
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| Samarkand, carved wooden door, 1405 |
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| Samarkand, Ulugh Beg madrassa, early 15th |
The combination of geometry and floral motifs had apparently inspired Turkmen weavers to update their designs. It was not difficult to add floral details - trefoil or stylised bud.
Usually, in this typology, a polilobed frame contains an eight-pointed device, at times flattened to resemble a cartouche. Within the latter other inscribed geometric shapes or small animals lie. The four-directions motif typically remains, while stylised flowers grace the diagonal lines.
Like in the chuval gul, chromaticism is conserved, although it appears more a question of a given taste than a structural necessity of the design.
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| Salor gulli gul, early 19th, Tehrani Gallery photo-courtesy |
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| Tekke gul, tcoletribalrugs.com photo courtesy |
It is questionable yet fascinating to surmise that the appearance of other 'realistic' floral depictions in Turkmen weavings might have a similar origin. To this regard, it must be added that vegetal representations in the form of a plant or shrub, or even just a flower adjoined to a geometrical device, were a traditional feature of pearl roundel designs whether inside or outside the roundel. They most likely referred to the most ancient Eurasian Tree of Life motif. In the case of the actual carpets, they look isolated from the field and reserved to the elem as if in full emphasis.
Surely, kinds of floral bunches and shrubs were diffusely represented in period miniated books, which must be supposed to have been among the treasured holdings of the Turkmen élites. The alleged early date of some Yomut main carpets sporting shrub inscribed elems is in harmony with period miniatures. Although more close and akin models may be easily found (i.e. those in Safavid and Mughal weavings), we purposely present an unspecific parallel to preserve the uniqueness of the Turkmen aesthetic and creativity. It should be considered a constraining point of view to look for specific models to any design and detail - excess of classification can diminish artistic value. Furthermore, a developing style must always be taken into account.
Surely, kinds of floral bunches and shrubs were diffusely represented in period miniated books, which must be supposed to have been among the treasured holdings of the Turkmen élites. The alleged early date of some Yomut main carpets sporting shrub inscribed elems is in harmony with period miniatures. Although more close and akin models may be easily found (i.e. those in Safavid and Mughal weavings), we purposely present an unspecific parallel to preserve the uniqueness of the Turkmen aesthetic and creativity. It should be considered a constraining point of view to look for specific models to any design and detail - excess of classification can diminish artistic value. Furthermore, a developing style must always be taken into account.
The various nature of Turkmen designs, seem to confirm their polysemous nature open to receive and convey - a habit that apparently seeded an array of forms at times hardly decipherable.
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| Floral devices, Iran or Central Asia silk, 7th-8th c. the David Collection |
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| Herat Miniature, 1431, The Hermitage |
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| Yomut main carpet, elem shrubs, 17th-18th, Moshe Tabibnia Collection photo credit |
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| Yomut asmalyk, det., The Louvre |
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| Aisha Bibi, Kharakhanid Mausoleum |
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| Mongol period, cloud collar motif |
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| Lotus/bud shape, 13th |
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| Scattered lotus, Timurid tilework, 14th |
Again, parallels are easy to be found in the Near Eastern basin. After all, Timurid artefacts of all types and paper scrolls as exemplars, travelled throughout and beyond the empire's borders. Nonetheless, given the great proximity of the Turkmen to their cradle, a prompt appropriation of such models should be suspected to give their weavers a sort of primacy.
It should not anymore appal the evident similarity of an early Ottoman motif with a classic of the Turkmen output, the Tekke main gul. The influence of the Timurid decorative language in early Ottoman art has been scholarly underlined (G. Necipoglu). And again, a stunning affinity with a type of Mamluk designs appears.
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| Tekke MC, 19th, tcoletribalrugs photo courtesy |
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| Ottoman Ushak carpet, 15th-16th, Berlin Museum |
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| Mamluk carpet, The Simonetti, The Metropolitan Museum, circa 1500 |
A Special Gulli Gul
The Saryk, a distinctive gulli gul type may introduce one more proof of the Timurid influence. The black diamond within the gul sports the typical craze for knots seen in many 'miniated' Timurid rugs. Similar usage is found in another Turkmen typology, the Salor chuval.
The so-called Turret gul shows, in fact, a secondary gul graced with the same knots. It would be comfortable to claim an Anatolian influence for the similarity with one of the Holbein small medallions, but the first-hand Timurid models should be seriously considered. The Saryk black diamond form appears consistent with the same organising principle - building devices with knots.
The so-called Turret gul shows, in fact, a secondary gul graced with the same knots. It would be comfortable to claim an Anatolian influence for the similarity with one of the Holbein small medallions, but the first-hand Timurid models should be seriously considered. The Saryk black diamond form appears consistent with the same organising principle - building devices with knots.
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| Saryk main carpet frag, gulli gul, tcoletribalrug.com courtesy |
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| Salor chuval, secondary gul with knots, NERS |
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| Herat miniature, 1495 |
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| Timurid tile, cartouche form, early14th |
Regarding the Saryk black diamond, two further comparisons with early Anatolian designs are compelling - one with the 'Ghirlandaio' medallion with knots, the other with the cruciform gul in the Small Holbein Pattern - where knots and buds blend into each other.
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| Anatolian fragment, Alexander collection |
Interestingly enough, the Turret gul chuval presents an identical secondary gul as that in the Small Medallion Holbein type.
Calligraphy
Artistic inscriptions first and calligraphy later became an essential part of the Turk Islamic visual art in its various declinations, not least textiles. A significant element in the architectural decorative system, it was diffusely applied to textiles spread on the floor as plenty of miniatures show since early times. It is also represented in late pearl roundel silks (12th and 13th century).
It should be safe to hypothesise it to be conveniently displayed in early Turkmen rugs as the contemporaneous Seljuk did.
As an array of Anatolian rugs confirm, it underwent a manifold of reworking where a precise script and meaning were not any more important but the charisma it added to the artefact. That is the reason for it to be called kufesque design meaning a design derived from the kufic script. That said, there are few proper words maintained visible like the case of the 'lam alif', or 'al mulk', referring to the Almighty. This very sign extraordinarily appears in some early Turkmen rugs verifying, if ever, the blend of calligraphy in the border designs.
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| Syria, 14th, 'lam alif' design |
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| Anatolia, Small Medallion Holbein frag, 15th-16th, 'lam alif' kufesque border |
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| The Hoffmeister Collection, Yomut torba, 15th-17th (?), 'lam alif' turned 45-degree in the border design. |
Other examples are well discerned in the dedicated literature.
One more example may be of use here. The structure of the following border, typical for Salor main carpets, can't but remind a reworked version of the lam alif: the knotted design has been isolated from the vertical elements, while the latter form the white grid (see Speculations on the "Kufic" Border in Orient Rugs in the Pacific Collection, p.121). More cogent is the presence of a similar design in Sogdian art (see the robe's border in the fresco) and in Anatolian classic carpets (see the Small Medallion Holbein's border and its halved pattern use).
Arguably, the usage of kufesque designs on the borders of their rugs should overtly persuade of the open mindset these 'tribal' populations were imbued with.
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| Salor main carpet, frag, 19th |
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| Sogdian fresco, The Hermitage |
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| SMH, border detail,early 16th, Brukenthal Museum Sibiu |
Other guls
Some cases drive us back to earlier times when animals were in fashion.
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| Octagonal gul, 'Mistery Play', Eagle group kapunuk, Ashgabat National Museum, tcoletribalrugs photocourtesy |
The Temirjin gul might again hold an enciphered trace of a Sogdian decorative element. The typical design repeated in the four sections of the gul seems to be a vestige of the usual ribbon gracing the celestial animals depicted in the pearl roundels. Although originally rendered in a fluent design, the flapping ribbon seen in Sogdian silks usually morphed in contracted folds. In this context, the Temirjin motif may be a further contraction and reworking when the original meaning was lost, although different interpretations are possible.
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| Temirjin gul, tcoletribalrugs.com photo courtesy |
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| Sassanian silk, 7th |
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| Central Asian silk, 8th |
It is not here the case to discuss other guls wherein the usual compound seems to be destroyed and recomposed into new unpredictable shapes. Yet, the carpet's format remained unaltered. Crescent, star, four-directions and kotchanak motifs, geometric forms and other designs usually grace them. Nevertheless, the visual result, once more, reflects the formidable ability to mould new designs by disruption and recreation.
These types not only testify to a receptive mindset able to adapt new designs to a traditional layout but also to the human need to create new forms within and despite the frame of tradition.
To this respect, one should mind that in Central Asia essential visual novelties did not happen after the Timurid time. The Shaybanid and Uzbek heirs of Timur mostly updated art with the Persian accent notwithstanding the long-lasting rivalry with the Safavid empire. Via the Caucasus, the Caspian maritime trade and the northeastern regions of Persia the Turkmen could widen their trade interests with expected consequences. A special mention is due to an alleged Safavid laboratory established by Shah Abbas in Astarabad, today Gorgan, where groups of Yomut were living. Reportedly, it was producing carpets and other fabrics following its own manner but with an undoubted Persianate accent.
The Ballard multi-gul Yomut carpet is possibly one good example of these blendings creating new compounds as other exemplars do show (to have a larger idea of this subject please refer to 'The Hecksher & Co' by the author in this blog)
The Ballard multi-gul Yomut carpet is possibly one good example of these blendings creating new compounds as other exemplars do show (to have a larger idea of this subject please refer to 'The Hecksher & Co' by the author in this blog)
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| Abdal gul |
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| Kepse gul |
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| C-gul |
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| Eagle-gul |
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| The Ballard Yomut multigul carpet, 18th-19th, The Metropolitan |
EPILOGUE
The composition of the steppe empires usually generated a large variety of situations and ever-shifting structures. Ongoing alliances with new clients-patrons, new communities created with different ethnic groups, swinging polities, eager need for control on the trade roads and emporiums were essential players in the game.
Although initially roaming groups, the steppe élites largely proved over Great History a genetic aptitude to settle and dominate the territory like the Scythians to the West and the Juan Juan to the East did. They used to have permanent settlements of various sizes from the most peripheral to the closest to the power centre. Not rarely intermarried with the settled aristocracies, nomadic overlords are referred to as real kings outfitted with a magnificent display of kingship which was diffused among kinsmen and affiliates whose echoes arrived down to the lower strata of the population.
Much more complex than commonly acknowledged, the Turk social organisation at the higher levels usually improved non-tribal bonds and introduced unexpected freedom to the strict rules of tribal life to the point of changing their social rites (i.e. marriage and burial customs). The many foreigners present in the Khaganal residences (i.e. Sogdians and Chinese) played an important role in this respect. The institutional and ideological legacy of the Turk organisation in Central Asia, although shortly lasted, bequeathed long-lasting traditions.
Turk imagery and art were congruously reshaped during this Golden Age - 1000 to 1500 - and in all likelihood originated both in royal encampments and urban settings with an arguable degree of variety. A tradition might have been shaped to be revered and carried on over a long period up to the actual carpets.
Mostly sedentary weavers knotting for domestic, ritual and trade needs, the Turkmen appear to have been aware of the art elaborated in Central Asia since their arrival.
Documentary evidence confirms them to have been engaged and merged with different traditions to various extents. Multiple reasons were causing such necessary symbiosis.
Reasonably, the essential equilibrium for these populations to survive had to grant tradition, a self-identity factor, and partly consent to innovation. The need for trading was one most effective points of a steady reworking process to satisfy commissions from diverse communities. Furthermore, the desire to emulate wealthier groups as well as the human call for creativity, an imperative never to be dismissed, also caused a quicksilver balance between conservatism and innovation.
Reasonably, the essential equilibrium for these populations to survive had to grant tradition, a self-identity factor, and partly consent to innovation. The need for trading was one most effective points of a steady reworking process to satisfy commissions from diverse communities. Furthermore, the desire to emulate wealthier groups as well as the human call for creativity, an imperative never to be dismissed, also caused a quicksilver balance between conservatism and innovation.
Turkmen main carpets do suggest this scenario. Tradition seems to have been revered using an enduring loyalty to the inherited format while innovation interacted by conveniently accommodating new designs. Conversely, the tribal lineage was granted by the steady presence of specific signs. Not otherwise than tamghas marked cattle and flocks, the four-directions and kotchanak motif, crescent, star, two-headed animal, and bird-head 'marked' these rugs. This unique blend prevented them from losing their identity in the overwhelming flow of history.
Finally, surveying the varied interpretations attributed to their designs (see the devoted literature) one can't but be mesmerised. Beyond any source and intent, they communicate the idea of a polysemous nature suggestive of the creative effort and artistic value encrusted within. They do resonate with the innate talent of these weavers for creating 'open' images apt to reflect a shifting and rich cultural environment. Hence, adding feasible interpretations to the acknowledged wisdom should not but enrich the perception of these extraordinary works of art.
The refined expertise exuded by some of them voices the status of these pieces.
Finally, surveying the varied interpretations attributed to their designs (see the devoted literature) one can't but be mesmerised. Beyond any source and intent, they communicate the idea of a polysemous nature suggestive of the creative effort and artistic value encrusted within. They do resonate with the innate talent of these weavers for creating 'open' images apt to reflect a shifting and rich cultural environment. Hence, adding feasible interpretations to the acknowledged wisdom should not but enrich the perception of these extraordinary works of art.
The refined expertise exuded by some of them voices the status of these pieces.
The historical context they sourced from, if only shortly summed, may concede them to be addressed as descendants of a sophisticated outcome commissioned by nomadic as well as sedentary aristocracies. The dominant and implacable use of purple in its numerous shades, besides the constraints and characteristics of regional dye's resources, eventually applies to them the seal of royalty, for redness has been the symbol of magic, sacred and kingship ever since.
At the end of the journey, the pearl roundel disguised in Turkmen designs truly appears imbued with a 'divine favour' (the farnah) for it encapsulated and preserved an encrypted world still to fully decode.
At the end of the journey, the pearl roundel disguised in Turkmen designs truly appears imbued with a 'divine favour' (the farnah) for it encapsulated and preserved an encrypted world still to fully decode.
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| Tekke main carpet |
Post scriptum
Other consequences may be deduced from this perspective but they are far too lengthy for this type of short 'loom'.
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