The Rug Library

Qaleen (also qalin, kaleen or kalin) is a Persian-derived term for a hand-knotted pile carpet, used across Iran, Central Asia and the northern Indian subcontinent.

Talim is a symbolic notation system used to record carpet designs, capturing colour schemes and the order of knots so a pattern can be reproduced row by row.

The word talim means 'instruction' or 'education' in Urdu, Arabic and Kashmiri, reflecting its role as the written guide a weaver follows at the loom.

In Kashmiri carpet workshops a design is first painted on graph paper by a naqash, with each square standing for one knot; the colour of each knot is then written as coded talim strips.

Depending on size, motifs and palette, a single Kashmiri carpet design can require a few hundred talim strips, with craft researchers citing roughly 200 to 800 or more.

The word dhurrie is often traced to the Sanskrit 'dhurika', though this etymology appears mainly in trade and secondary sources.

Gabba embroidery is traditionally worked with an aari hook in chain stitch, which also holds the base layers and appliqué together.

'Kal baffi' is the local Kashmiri term for hand-knotted carpet weaving, a craft traditionally linked to Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, who brought weavers from Persia and Central Asia in the 15th century.

MAP Academy notes that pile carpets and rugs in India have been known by several names, including alcatif, qali, dari and shatranji.

Under Akbar, royal carpet workshops called farrash-khanas were set up at centres including Fatehpur, Agra and Lahore.

A Kashmiri talim uses one set of symbols for the number of warp ends to be knotted and another for the colour of each knot.

Abrash refers to visible shifts of shade within a single colour in a rug's pile, often caused by different dye lots or yarn batches, and is typical of handmade rugs.