Recognition and Study of Carpet Weaving in Bijar Garous

Bijar Rug (Iron Rug) or Garous Rug is one of the most famous Iranian rugs in the world. Its world-wide reputation raises the question that to which historical period, does this artwork of Bijar belong? In the present study, to answer this question, the researcher has endeavored to investigate the position of mythical images and patterns in Bijar rug art, and then the mentioned images and concepts were studied in rugs with Kurdistan Baghi and Charbagh Patterns; finally codified rugs and carpets woven in Bijar were taken into consideration. The purpose of the present study was to estimate how old rug-weaving art in Garous Province is. The methodology of the research consisted of interviews, studying books, journals, and articles, and visiting the museums in order to investigate the images of Bijar Baghi, Charbagh and codified rugs. According to the researcher’s investigations, it can be stated that mythical images drawn on Bijar rug are influenced by the western civilizations of Iran Plateau appearing in the form of mythical symbols such as animals and plants; thus this rug-weaving art dates back to millenniums B.C. Also the existence of rugs woven in Safavieh, Qajar, and Pahlavi periods is the indication of prevalence and fame of this art in Iran and all over the world.