Tabriz

Tabriz is the capital of Persian Azerbaijan (it was once the capital of all of Azerbaijan) and has a weaving history going back at least as far as the Timurid dynasty of the 15th century. The attribution of the earliest surviving group of late-15th and early-16th century medallion carpets, many of very large size, has caused considerable controversy, principally for two reasons: their asymmetric knotting and the lack of any real historic evidence linking them to Tabriz, or indeed anywhere else. One of the main objections to Tabriz as a major Safavid weaving centre was its frequent capture by the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century; however, the Ottomans themselves were extremely keen on Persian carpets – witness the number captured from the Turks during their central and eastern European campaigns of the 17th and 18th centuries and now in western museums and private collections.