Chobi rugs CHOBI is a widely used commercial term used for hand made carpets from Afghanistan and to a diminished extent in the NWFP region of Afghanistan/Pakistan border. This term has been used since the displacement and return of refugees during and after the Soviet Afghan war in the 1980s. The uprooting of weaving populations effected traditional all wool weaving which had previously been almost exclusively based on Turkmen designs with an all wool structure in red tones as expressed by Afghan carpets. ( NB Not to be confused with the imitative Pakistan poly-chrome products such as ' Princess Bokhara ' ) Strong demand for furnishing concepts from the west to produce Persian style patterns most notably the concept of Ziegler carpets proved a good commercial success and a well made robust product using increasingly cotton as a foundation resulted. Following a western lead in tase since late 1980s the business has since 2000 fallen to a considerable degree to being administered via
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
merchants given the ease of export from Pakistan. Afghan weavers had largely returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan refugee camps during late 20th cent however since the Taliban/
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
take over of Afghanistan in 2021 disruption to weaving has again occurred.
Etymology
The word Chobi with its various spellings and transliterations ("choobi", "choubi", "chubi") is an attribution from the word “choob” with a long vowel of ”oo” as it sounds in book. “Choob” literally means
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
and originally is a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Origin
Chobi rugs were a response to the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
taste that intended to modify the boldness of the traditional rugs in order to give a muted and antique look of natural wood color that was desired by modern fashion industry. Chobi was developed in Lahore and weaving centres were set up in border region of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...