JBOC Attribution: Oriental Rugs > Turkmen Rugs > Tekke Rugs & Carpets
The James C. Allen Mid 17th century Tekke Chuval The Tekke people descend from one of the 23 Oghuz Turkmen Tribes. By 1200 AD they had settled as agriculturists in the Syr Darya region. They were then uprooted in the Mongol Invasions and moved west towards the Caspian Sea. By the 16th century the Tekke moved into the Akhal region along the Kopetdag Mountains and then gradually pushed the Salor from the Murgap River basin. They stayed there until defeated by the Russians. The Tekke ceased to function as a cohesive tribal confederation after the battle and massacre of the Tekke by the Russians January 12, 1881. While they ceased to exist as a tribal unit they are still identifiable as an ethno-linguistic group since they share a common dialect called Tekke or Chagatai. "In the early sixteenth century, the Turkmen "were concentrated in four main regions: along the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea, on the Mangyshlak Peninsula (on the northeastern Caspian coast), around the Balkan Mountains, and along the Uzboy River running across north-central Turkmenistan". Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996 "Many scholars regard the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries as the period of the reformulation of the Turkmen into the tribal groups that exist today. " Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996 "Beginning in the sixteenth century and continuing into the nineteenth century, large tribal conglomerates and individual groups migrated east and southeast." Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996 "Historical sources indicate the existence of a large tribal union often referred to as the Salor confederation in the Mangyshlak Peninsula and areas around the Balkan Mountains. The Salor were one of the few original Oghuz tribes to survive to modern times. In the late seventeenth century, the union dissolved and the three senior tribes moved eastward and later southward." Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996 (16th century) "The Yomud split into eastern and western groups, while the Tekke moved into the Akhal region along the Kopetdag Mountains and gradually into the Murgap River basin. The Salor tribes migrated into the region near the Amu Darya delta in the oasis of Khorazm south of the Aral Sea, the middle course of the Amu Darya southeast of the Aral Sea, the Akhal oasis north of present-day Ashgabat and areas along the Kopetdag bordering Iran, and the Murgap River in present-day southeast Turkmenistan." Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996
A Tekke Torba formerly in the Thompson collection and now I believe it is in the Bloom collection The Merv Tekke had settled in the Tejen swamps until the drought of 1831-1834. They moved from Sarahks to as far south as Seistan until abut 1855. Pankratov, Turkmen Tribes The Tejen Swamps are North by North west of Sarahks. The swamps are the area where the Tejen river disappears into the sands of the KaraKum desert. The Merv Tekke or any tribe needs water and until the drought they could survive in the desert. Once they ran out of water they moved up river and pushed the Salor and Saryk from Sarahks. "Beginning in the sixteenth century, most of the Turkmen tribes were divided among two Uzbek principalities: the Khanate (or emirate) of Khiva (centered along the lower Amu Darya in Khorazm) and the Khanate of Bukhoro (Bukhara)." Library of Congress: Turkmenistan Formation of the Turkmen Nation March 1996 The Tekke defeated the Khan of Khiva at Sarahks in 1855. This allowed the Tekke to occupy the Sarahks region. It also set off 12 years of Turkmen rebellion against the Khiva Khanate. Khanate of Khiva 1511-1920 Late 1873 "Short of money for the return to Tashkent, Kaufman ordered the other Turkmen tribes in Khivan territory to pay their shares of the fine, some 301,000 rubles. Becoming somewhat more reasonable, he allowed them to pay half the sum in camels and the other half in either coin or gold or silver jewelry and other objects. They were given from July 21 to August 2 to pay. The punishment of the Yomuds had its desired effect on the other Turcomen bands. At the deadline, some 92,000 rubles had been collected, and as there was evidence of intent to pay, Kaufman allowed an indefinite extension to the payment deadline. To insure full payment, he took 26 hostages from among the families of Turcomen notables." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva. Gen. Michael Skobelev, commander of Krasnovodsk fort transported 11,000 Russian troops to Goktepe on their newly built railway. Goktepe fell to the Russians in 1881. Gen. Michael Skobelev allowed his men to execute 8,000 men women children and even babies. They used bayonets on the babies. Ogata Resource Treasure-trove The circumcision of a young Tekkè boy is a major event in the life of the Turkmen. "Wealthy Turkman families usually hold a party which includes horseracing and wrestling to celebrate this event." TURKMENS OF IRAN
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The Dudin Merv Tekke Bird Asmalyk |
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THIRTY RUG MASTERPIECES FROM THE COLLECTION OF S.M. DUDIN A very rare book available On-Line on the Internet at Oriental Rug Review |
TEKKE Turkoman, Asmalyk
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Akhal versus Merv Tekkes
"The Akhal preserved more of the traditional characteristics of ancient carpet weaving, while the Merv Tekkes experienced a strong Salor influence and thus adopted such specific Salor features as knot depression and a great repertoire of designs." Elena Tsareva Dudin Collection - Tekkes
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Tekke Weaving:Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and then Iran. Mostly Turkmenistan. Size: Bags rugs and carpets.
Structure: Asymmetric open left. In rare cases open right. 140 to 540 KPSI Average around 200 KPSI. No depression to slight warp depression in older rugs and deeper depression increasing to deep depression on very late rugs. Yarn & Pile: Z Spun wool Warp: Two ply white wool. Weft: 2 shots gray, brown red, or ivory wefts (Black in late 3rd phase). Camelhair wefts in a Bird Asmalyk. There are single wefted Tekke pieces, see Purple Group Tekke Ensi
Knot: Asymmetrical open right is normal. Ensis may have symmetric Tekke Edge Knots. Pile: 2 wool singles. Ends: Most often weft faced plain weave. Selvages: Blue wool overcast over multiple warp units. Handle: Light - medium. later rugs get a progressively heavier handle as warp depression increases. . |
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Gurbaghe Gul This is one of the more common Tekke carpet minor Guls. not as common as the Chemche Gul but not uncommon. |
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Chemche Gul Also Tschemtsche (German) The Chemche Gul is a minor gul commonly seen in Tekke rugs and bags. This type of Chemche is referred to as the Arrow Chemche on the basis of he tertiary white arrow like designs. |
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Star and Octagon Border Star is not quite right but it is in common usage. Actually the stars are floral forms that may be best called rosettes. This is an old border seen in carpets generally considered older, The Star and Octagon Border predates the Salor Tekke split. For Salor use of the Star and Octagon Border in an Ensi see 19th century Salor Ensi page 31, Thompson, Jon. Oriental Carpets and also in Salor Ensi. |
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Tekke Gul This is the most common main Gul in Tekke main carpets. An important clue to estimating age is the height to width ratio. Those with a greater height to width ratio tend to be older. Please note the top Gul. I feel this is older than the lower gul. The middle gul even though it has good age strikes me as younger that the top gul. The bottom Gul is much younger dating to turn of the century 1895 - 1920. The Gul has flattened out dramatically. I believe this was due to European market influences. For my purposes I will consider Russian merchants as European. As European influence increased there became market pressure to weave fine rugs. With the patterns staying the same the weaver turned to fine yarn and more compression on the loom. Consequently as the rugs got finer the guls got flatter. |
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The Archtypal Gul These guls are described by the great British rug expert Dr. Jon Thompson as the "Archtypal Gul". For related exampes see Mackie, Louise & Thompson, Jon. Turkmen. Plate 35 & 36. See pages 106 and 107 for discussion of those plates. |
Tekke Juval
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Miniature version of the Archtypal Gul These guls are clearly related to Mackie, Louise & Thompson, Jon. Turkmen. Plate 30. Dr. Jon Thompson described that example as a "miniature version of the Archtypal Gul" Turkmen page 100. |
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A Former Slave on the Tekke and the Russian Victory
"we soon found ourselves in the garden of Dawlatabad, where we sat in a shady corner and conversed with an old gardener who had been for thirteen months a slave in the hands of the (Tekke) Turcomans. He had been taken prisoner by them near the Kal'at-i-Nadiri about the time that Hamze Mirza was besieging Mashhad (1848), and described very graphically his experiences in the Turcoman slave-market; how he and his companions in misfortune, stripped almost naked, were inspected and examined by intending purchasers, and finally knocked down by the broker to the highest bidder. He had finally effected his escape during a raid into Persian territory, in which he had accompanied the marauders as a guide, exactly after the manner of the immortal Haji Baba. He and the Erivani joined cordially in abusing the Turcomans, whom they described as more like wild beasts than men. "They have no sense of fear," said the latter, "and will never submit, however great may be the odds against them; even their women and children will die fighting. That was why the Russians made so merciless a massacre of them, and why, after the massacre was over, they piled up the bodies of the slain into a gigantic heap, poured petroleum over it, and set it on fire, that perhaps this horrible spectacle might terrify the survivors into submission."" A Year Amongst the Persians: Yedz pages 399 - 400
Interesting Books On Turkmen Rugs:
Eiland, Murray L Jr. Oriental Rugs A New Comprehensive Guide. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1993 3rd edition.
Krader, Lawrence. Peoples of Central Asia. Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University, 1966.
Mackie, Louise & Dr. Jon Thompson. Turkmen. Washington DC: Textile Museum, 1980.
Reuben, David M. Gols and Guls: Turkmen Carpets from the 18th and 19th Centuries. London: 1998
Saunders, Peter E. Tribal Visions. Novao Ca: 1980.
Tsareva, Elena. The Dudin Collection. Meredith: Oriental Rug Auction Review, Inc., 1990.
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