The story
What it is
Pakistan is one of the world’s big makers of hand-knotted rugs. Weavers tie each knot around the warp threads by hand and trim it, row by row, until the pattern appears. Lahore is the centre of the trade, with workshops and showrooms near the old city and on its outskirts.
Pakistani rugs are known for deep red “Bokhara” rugs with rows of elephant-foot medallions, softly coloured “Chobi” rugs dyed with vegetable dyes, and fine Persian-style designs.
Where it comes from
Carpet weaving in the region goes back at least to the Mughal emperors, who set up imperial workshops in Lahore. After 1947 and again with the arrival of Afghan weavers from the 1980s, Pakistan’s rug industry grew into a major export.
