Abstract:

The term Bukhara carpet was coined by Russian and Western carpet amateurs in the 19th century. They used the term to refer to carpets purchased in the markets of Bukhara, the largest trading center in the region at that period. The term turned out to be surprisingly tenacious, and in our days in response to the query Bukhara carpets, Internet searches yield a huge number of results, the most popular of which claim that hand-knotted carpets have been woven in Bukhara for thousands of years. Internet-based information on Bukhara carpets is supplemented by various publications, reports by international organizations, and stories from Bukhara entrepreneurs. The narratives about ancient Bukhara carpets illustrate Turkmen carpets woven far outside Bukhara by women from the Yomud, Ersary, and Teke tribes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 20th century, the concept of Bukhara carpet migrated from Central Asia to Afghanistan and Pakistan and began to be applied to carpets made here. Today, the bazaars of Bukhara still demonstrate carpets made by Turkmen weavers, calling them Bukhara carpets, additionally, the carpets are offered by a newly established and a tourist-driven manufactory in Bukhara. This study attempts to shed light on the question of the Bukhara carpet, and it intends to answer, among others, the following questions: how did a term coined in the colonial period find a second breath and become a real craft today? What intentions, other than a tourist attraction, are behind reviving the myth of the Bukhara carpet?