The Rug Library

The Bhadohi carpet GI covers carpets made across nine districts of the region: Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Sonbhadra, Kaushambi, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Jaunpur and Chandauli.

The Mirzapur–Bhadohi belt is described by the Bhadohi district administration as the country’s largest handmade carpet-weaving cluster, with an estimated 3.2 million people engaged in the industry.

After the upheaval of 1857 in Agra and Delhi, a number of carpet weavers are said to have moved from Agra to the village of Madhosingh on the Grand Trunk Road between Bhadohi and Mirzapur and resumed weaving on a small scale.

In the late 19th century a British-run firm, E. Hill & Co., was set up at Khamaria near Bhadohi to produce hand-knotted carpets on a commercial scale.

Obeetee was established at Mirzapur in 1920 by three Britons, and the company name is formed from the founders' initials (O, B and T).

A widely told Mirzapur legend says a caravan of Persian weavers bound for the Mughal court was attacked on the Grand Trunk Road, sheltered by villagers, and that the master weaver stayed to teach his hosts.

Mirzapur–Bhadohi has long been a centre not only for knotted pile carpets but also for flatwoven dhurries and kilims, with artisan skills believed to date back to the Mughal era.

In weaving villages around Mirzapur, such as Purjagir Mujehara, local people commonly refer to carpets as 'galicha'.

Obeetee, which began with a small group of artisans in Mirzapur, reportedly now works with more than 25,000 artisans, and its carpets have been used at Rashtrapati Bhavan.