Qaleen bafi
The wilting art of Kashmir
Qaleen is a type of hand
knotted pile carpet. Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin introduced Qaleen making craft
from Persia to Kashmir in the 15th century. The Sultan brought carpet weavers
from Persia and Central Asia into Kashmir to train the local inhabitants. The
art of Qaleen making of Kashmir is famous worldwide but it is now dying.
The craft of weaving
Qaleens is practiced mostly by people in rural areas. The carpets are woven on
a large wooden loom having two logs fixed horizontally. White threads are
carefully tied on these legs which form the base of the carpet. In Kashmir,
either cotton or silk threads are used as the base of the carpet. The deadline
for weaving a carpet is fixed by the middleman who buys the carpets from the
artisans.
The price depends upon
the material used in the carpets. The carpets are made of three types: silk on
silk, silk on cotton and art silk on cotton. The carpet trade is Rs. 650 crore
strong with a majority of products worth Rs 412.45 crores exported to United
States, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Gulf countries. However these huge
prices haven’t changed the lives of the artisans.
Due to less returns,
many artisans are switching their profession and the children of artisans are
pursuing different professions. Another factor which has contributed to the
decline in the art of weaving Qaleens is the decrease in the production of
world renowned Kashmiri silk which has forced the dealers and government to
import silk from outside.
The carpet industry is
not regulated by the state government which means the artisans don’t benefit
from the rising price of Qaleens. Adding
to this, the educational backwardness of artisans oftenly expose them of being
overexploited by the middlemen. Their wages depend on how kind their middlemen
are. So, the government needs to come up with policies to save the legacy of
this art.
