There has not been much research done on Baluch carpets to date but the name derives from the Baluch tribe that lives in Iran, mostly in Baluchestan & Sistan, and also Khoresan and Kirman. Other Baluch tribes live in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is also not just the Baluch tribe that make Baluch carpets in Iran. Other tribes that also make these carpets are the Tīmūrī, the Kurds, the Arabs, the Brahui, the Jamšīdī, and the Barbarī.
According to Baluch lore they are descendants of Hazrat Ameer Hamza, the uncle of the prophet Muhammed, who settled in Aleppo, Syria. Over the centuries they migrated to the areas where they are settled today. Tracing the origins of their name is also a tricky business. Some say that they are named after Belus (Bel Marduk) who was the god of Mesopotamia and Babylon, with others arguing that their name comes from the Persian word for cockscomb, due to the fact that the Baluch soldiers wore hats with a cockscomb on it, around the 6th century BC.
Whatever the actual history of the tribe is, their carpets no doubt carry in it many secrets that we are yet to unlock that will reveal to us who they are exactly.
Contact Shervin Ghorbany on 0824548533 for more information.
