Arabatchi-Chodor ala Dr.Thompson Page 2

Buy oriental carpets
100% handmade area carpet and rugs from Tibet.
Modern and traditional design. Armenian too!
www.TufenkianCarpets.com Can't afford Tufenkian Carpets?
Visit the ONLY official Tufenkian carpet outlet.
Discontinued and one of kind rugs.
www.TufenkianOutlet.com Need a custom area rug?

If you can dream it, we can weave it.
Custom area rugs by Tufenkian

I am going to use this page to gather up a few thoughts and maybe when I get to see this rug in person then we can make further progress. But for now it is a chance for me to learn a little. Anyone who has any input feel free to comment.

Arabatchi-Chodor ala Dr.Thompson Page 1

Chaudor Gul
Here we see the small iconographic forms that often occur in Chaudor ertman guls. see Eiland Oriental Rugs A Complete Guide Il. 219 D

What I expect to see in a Chaudor Rug:

Warps: 2 Z2S undyed gray or brown warps of wool and or animal hair including goat and camel.
Wefts: two wefts one wool and one cotton.
Pile: asymmetric, open to the right (usually Oriental Rugs pg. 239).
Selvage 3 or 4 cords wrapped with goat or wool usually in a dark color and in older pieces two color checkerboard pattern Oriental Rugs pg. 239.
Wool: often poor quality which combined with thin cotton wefts can cause structural problems. Oriental Rugs pg. 239.

Arabatchi Gul
Here we see a gul of the type we generally see attributed to the Arabatchli. see Hali 96 page 93v

What I expect to see in a Arabatchi Rug:

Warps: 2 Z2S undyed tan brown warps wool.

Wefts: two wefts one brown wool and one white cotton.

Pile: asymmetric, open to the left (usually Oriental Rugs pg. 240).

Selvage ???

Note the different iconography in these guls.

A question that I have had and apparently so did the Eilands when the wrote Oriental Rugs, who are the Arabatchi? Eiland notes that Murav'yov and Vamberey did not mention the Arabatchi. To that I will note that linguistically Arabatchi is not a recognized dialect of Turkmen. So for a while I had serious reservations about the Arabatchi as a tribe. Then I came to understand that Abul-Ghazi Bahadur Khan (1603-1663), ruler of Khiva, mentioned the Arabatchi in Secere-i Terakime. Abul-Ghazi Bahadur Khan is an important source since he was both a ruler and a historian of the Turkmen. So his book written in about 1659 is a crucial source. Unfortunately the English edition has been out of print for over 200 years.

Abu Al Ghazi Bahadur, A History of the Turks, Moguls, and Tatars, Vulgarly called Tartars, Together with a Description of the Countries They Inhabit (London, 1730) Two Vols.

So I will conceded that it appears that the Arabatchi should be considered a very old tribe and not a sub-tribe of another group such as the Yomut or the Chaudor.

A few notes:

ACOR 3 Chodor or Pseudo-Chodor? 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Marquee 1 & 2 There appear to be two distinct weaving traditions within the Chodor tribal family, and Michael Rothberg and Kurt Munkacsi will team up to unscramble the mystery. The possibility of a Chodor-Arabatchi linkage will also be discussed. Examples shown will include several rare ensis and unusual asmalyks. ACOR 3 Preview
Arabatchi: Ensi, Oriental Rug Review VIII/4/56

Journey to Khiva through the Turkoman country by Nikolay Murav'yov, translated from the German by W S A Lockhart, and originally published in Russian.

Persian Rugs and Carpet

Turkish Rugs

Turkmen Rugs

JBOC's Notes on the Bible

Persian Carpet Guide

Caucasian Rugs

Arabatchi-Chodor ala Dr.Thompson Page 1

Persian Rugs the O'Connell Guides