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Guide to
Bordjalou rugs
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I am now convinced that Bordjalu should
be and can be divided by it's three historic provinces, Marneuli, Gardabani and Bolnisi. I
will soon get around to revising this page. In the mean
time enjoy the rugs and you can follow my new line of
reasoning in The
Daniels Collection Bordjalu Rugs
What is Borchali?
BRIEF HISTORY:
The Sultanate of Borchali was located in the southeastern
part of Georgia and in the eastern part of today's
Turkey. At the beginning of the 18th century, Borchali
was vassal of the Khanate of Ganja and in 1736 was ceded
by Persian Emperor Nadir Shah Afshar to the
Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti. Borchali was composed
of today's Georgian districts of Marneuli, Gardabani and
Bolnisi
THE ALMANACH DE BRUXELLES
Type A Bordjalu
Kazak rug
There seems a clear dichotomy in the rugs attributed
to the Bordjalu area. Bordjalu is a collection point in
southern Georgia for the area that runs up the southern
ridge of the Caucasus south of Tbilisi. This is the
quintessential Type A.
Since Borchalo was
divided into three provinces; Marneuli,
Gardabani and Bolnisi I suggest that we can construct a
probable grouping by seeking to trifurcate the group. By
taking the available rugs and dividing them into groups
we end up with three logical groups. The easiest one is
the Karayazy or Gardabani
Group since there is a firm body of rugs and
pictorial evidence to give us firm anchor rugs, So now we
have two groups and two regions. Type A looks very close
to examples that I feel have a high probability of being
Armenian. Take for example Bennett,
Ian et al. Oriental Rugs Volume 1 Caucasian. plate
69. The field is related to the Type A Bordjalu. The main
border however is Armenian, Compare plate 69 to plate 140
a rug attributed to Erivan. Bolnisi
is the southwestern most region of the Borchallo area. It
historically has had the greatest concentration of
Armenians.
If we attribute the Type A Borchally
rugs to
Borchalo, Borchaly, Borcialu, Borchalo, Bor`calo
A Bordjalou Kazak rug, circa
1870,
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Borchalo
is an Azeri Turk city in the Republic of Georgia.
It is now called Marneuli and was formally called
Borchalo or Bor`calo until 1947. GEORGIA
: urban population
Borchalo had a large Armenian
population until the Armenia/Georgian war of
1918. Still has significant Armenian and Azeri
population. The Bordchalu are a Hamadan area
tribe. At some point there was a split and paret
of the tribe ended up in the Kazak
area of what is now the Republic og Georgia.
In about 1179 a young man who
would grow up to be Cinggis Qahan (Ghengis Khan)
was aided by the son of the Chieftain of the
Arulat clan. The young man was Bo'orcu. He became
one of Cinggis Qahan's Dorben Kulu'ud (Great
Warriors). In the Yuan
ch'ao pi-shih, quatrain 205, it is recorded
that later in life Cinggis Qahan said "Let
Bo'orcu govern the ten thousand of the right hand
which take the Altai as pillow." In other
words the Qahan gave a proto-tribal unit to a key
general. I am certainly no linguist but I
translate Borchalu as Bo'orcu Lu or the people of
Bo'orcu. The Lu of Bo'orculu as coming from the
same root as the Mongol term Ulus which means the
land, animals, and people, that a that an IL or
tribal group controls. These people became known
as the Bo'orculu or people of Bo'orcu. Over the
years Bo'orculu becomes Borchalu. So if Ford is correct
and I believe he is that the Borchalu are Mongol
than they must be descended from the Horde of
Bo'orcu.
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Map of the Kazak Area
Type B borjalu Rugs Chobanker
Marneuli
I see a second clear cut group in Bordjalu Kazaks.
There is a high probability that they are from the
Marneuli province (Central Bordjalu region) of the
old Bordjalu Khanate.
y may be from Chobanker or Karayazay but at this point
I see them as Central Bordjalu region.
A Kazak rug Fachralo
medallion, Bordjalu border
Skinner's 9/00 Lot 69
Bordjalu Kazak Rug
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Chobanker Bordjalu
Kazaks
This is a little used
attribution but it appears to have some merit. In
the Bordjalu group there is a distinctive
sub-group. Hubel points out a blue-green color
with clumsy reciprocal brown and white borders. i
think they tend to be more square than standard
Bordjalu Kazaks.
Chobanker Type:
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# 20. Textile Treasures,
Exhibition catalogue by Peter Willborg
"14 colors, warp Z3S, originally a pile
height of 10 mm, now on an average of 6-7
mm"
http://www.rugreview.com/willborg.htm
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Chobanker? It is tempting to add this
Bordjalu to the Chobanker group.
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| Seen at http://www.skinnerinc.com/
Sale 2136 Lot 70
Bordjalou Kazak, Southwest Caucasus, last
quarter 19th century, (small rewoven areas along
edges and other areas, brown corrosion), 5 ft. 9
in. by 4 ft. 2 in.
Estimate $6,000-8,000
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Seen at http://www.skinnerinc.com/
Sale 2136 Lot 76
Karachopf Kazak Rug, Southwest Caucasus,
second half 19th century, (small rewoven areas,
other small repairs, brown corrosion, even wear
to center), 7 ft. 8 in. by 4 ft. 4 in.
Estimate $6,000-8,000
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| Seen at http://www.skinnerinc.com/
Sale 2136 Lot 1
Bordjalou Kazak Prayer Rug, Southwest Caucasus, last quarter
19th century, three hooked diamond medallions in
navy blue, ivory, gold, and light blue-green on
the red field, ivory and dark brown reciprocal
trefoil border, (even wear to center, creases,
brown corrosion), 4 ft. 2 in. by 3 ft. 5 in.
Estimate $2,000-3,000
My apology for the image, Skinner has small
images but does have some interesting rugs
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Irina
Koshoridze
Borchalo Rugs
The historical fate of Georgia was significantly
determined by its geographical location. Georgia has been
invaded by many countries, which caused many hardships to
the country, but relations to vary civilizations and
their cultures helped Georgia to develop such cultural
and life models in which religious and cultural tolerance
among different populations had a leading place. One of
the many examples would be Borchalo rugs, which have been
created by the Azeri population of Georgia, who settled
in Georgia in the XVI century. In these items one can see
both their ancient homeland’s atmosphere and
stylistic features of centuries-old Georgian culture. http://www.icr.arti.beniculturali.it/Icom-TXT/15-16/ICOCAbstractsE--L.html
"Shirak and Karayaz, on the left
bank of the Kura, which are chiefly inhabited by nomad
Tatars." http://91.1911encyclopedia.org/T/TI/TIFLIS.htm
Antique Prayer Rug
Item #140
SOLD
3'-7" x 5'-4"
Seen on www.pangaeacarpets.com
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Seen on www.skinnerinc.com
Sale 2192 Lot
221 Bordjalou Kazak Rug, Southwest
Caucasus, late 19th century, four hooked diamonds
inset with "checkerboard" design in
navy and sky blue, ivory, gold, and blue-green on
the red field, two reciprocal trefoil borders,
one ivory and dark brown, one red and blue-green,
(even wear to center, small repairs), 6 ft. 7 in.
by 4 ft. 10 in.
Estimate $1,200-1,500
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For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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