Notes on Kurdish Bijars


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Garrus or Kurdish Bijars

When we talk about Garrus Bijars or Kurdish Bijars we are actully using different words for the same thing. Garrusi is a dialect of Kordi (Kurdish) so one who speaks the Garrusi dialect as their "Milk Language" is a Garrus Kurd. The other name for Garrus is Bijari so a Kurd from Bijar is a Garrus Kurd. Keep in mind that the Kurds who weave Bijar rugs speak Bijari (Garrusi) so it is perfectly reasonable that Bijar rugs are woven in the Bijar area rather than the town of Bijar itself.

In the rug trade we use Garrus to describe simpler less sophisticated rugs from the weavers in the Bijar area. This is a distinction between commercial contract work and also from the Bijar type rugs woven by the Afshar (see map) in the Bijar area.

Persian Rugs/Kurdish Rugs: Garrus or Kurdish Bijars

The Bijar Weave

Pattern is almost useless in attributing Bijars. A Bijar is a rug that uses the Bijar weave. The heavy rigid wefts divide the warps and the warps are on two plains. When this is hammered down as in Bijar rugs are the pile comes straight out of the pile at a 90 degree angle

Persian Rugs/Kurdish Rugs: From the town of Bijar east to the Iraqi border is heavily Kurdish. This is a traditional Sennah pattern woven in a Bijar weave. I would certainly consider this a Kurdish Bijar.

From the town of Bijar east to the Iraqi border is heavily Kurdish. This is a traditional Sennah pattern woven in a Bijar weave. I would certainly consider this a Kurdish Bijar.

Courtesy of the CIA

Ethnolinguistic map of Northwest Iran.

Here is a detail of a CIA ethnolinguistic map that I modified. The area Bijar is in is ethnically Kurdish. However it is near an Afshar area where many of the Bijar rugs are woven. I realize this map is difficult to read but the green area on the upper left side of the Afshar is Luri. I am going to have to start looking for Luri Bijars. The darker purple area is Azari Turk and I do not believe that they weave any Bijar type rugs.

Examples: