The Persian tradition
Carpets from the town of Tabriz

Situated in the north-west of Iran, in the province of Azerbaijan, close to the Russian and Turkish borders, Tabriz was for many centuries, one of the great Persian towns. During the thirteenth century, it even became the capital of the Mongol Empire. Unlike the Safavid empire which used asymmetrical or Persian knotting, Tabriz carpets use Turkish or Ghiordes knots ). There are six qualities of Tabriz: 35, 40, 50, 60 70 and 80. These numbers, of course, correspond to the number of knots in a 'punzeh' (equivalent to 7 cm). The finest carpets can go from 500,000 knots/m2 (50 raj) to over 1,000,000 knots/m2 (80raj). Tabriz carpets typically use wool on a cotton or silk weave.