A Comparative Study on Designs of Gurkanid and Safavid Textiles

Because of having all aspects of applications among many segments of society، textile is one of the leading and largest industries in the Muslim countries، including Iran and India. For this reason Ninth to eleventh centuries AH (fifteenth to seventeenth AD) centuries are important in progression of textile art in Safavid and Gurkanid eras. By having cultural and artistic ties in the previous centuries، particularly during the Safavid state; they have had effects on each other in many different arts، specially the art of textiles. In this article، through analysis of the art of Safavid textiles and its influence on or taking influence by Gurkanid، one of its contemporaneous civilizations is comparatively studied. The main base of the research is woven designs and motifs in Safavid and Gurkanid textiles. Therefore، firstly characteristics and methods of textile weaving in Safavid and Gurkanid eras has been studied through categorizing woven designs into three groups including: Plant motifs، human، animal designs and pictographs. Then available samples of Safavid and Gurkanid textiles have been studied comparatively.