Bidjar
Bijar (Bidjar or Bîcar) is a Kurdish town in North West Persia. There is nearly 40 village around the town called the Bijar area. With an elevation of 1,940 meters, Bijar has been called the Roof of Iran.
Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Carpet Merchant
History
The city was mentioned in the 15th century as a village belonging to Shah Ismail, the first ruler of the Safavid dynasty; Bijar became a town during the 19th century. During World War I it was besieged and occupied by Russian, British, and Ottoman troops who, with the aid of the 1918 famine, halved the pre-war population of 20,000.
In the fifteenth century, Bijār was a village, the property, it is said, of Shah Ismail, the first Sefavi monarch. About a century ago its inhabitants had acquired sufficient wealth and consequence to gain possession of their land and houses-which in Persia is the mark of emancipation. Bijār became a town. Its geographical position, however, was not such as to make it a commercial center. It remained a market town of importance. agricultural area of no particular importance.
Of all the towns of western Persia which were fought over and occupied by the opposing armies during World War I, the town of Bijar suffered the most. It was first occupied by the Russians. But the Russians did not remain: they retreated before the pressure of the Turkish armies, and the Turks occupied the town. The hapless population was then subjected to Turkish retribution for alleged cooperation with the Russians.
Pattern
The designs of Bijār have always been few, simple, and generally rectilinear. The professional designer is often an honored member of the community in places like Tabriz, Kashān and above all Kerman is unknown in Bijār. Formerly a design was associated with a particular village. It was well known by the villagers and invariably woven there. In the introduction of the wagireh system-whereby a mat was woven which showed one repeat of the design and was used as a pattern the weaver-enabled the merchants to distribute the better designs more widely. The more recent introduction of scale-paper patterns has still further simplified the distribution. Nevertheless, the few Bijār carpets which are being woven today are lacking in a variety of designs. The Herātī pattern, overall design. But even that simple pattern is often mutilated by the inexperience or indifference of the weavers.
Bidjar Patterns
Weaving and Production
After each row of knots has been completed, two sometimes a tree, weft shoots are very heavily beaten down. The high tension weft is often only spun or very loosely plied as well as being very tick. This technique produces an extremely compact construction. We do apply some water to the moisture weft to be able to beat them down yet harder.
Photo: Bidjar Rug Weaving, 2020 Adiyaman
Bidjar Rug Collection
