Kashan has for many years been a center for fine carpets, with almost one in three residents employed in carpet-making, with more than two-thirds of carpet-makers being women.
For centuries Archeological excavations in the Sialk hills indicated that this area was home to pre-historic humans. Kashan had a silk rug industry established as early as the 17th century. It's still done according to the traditional methods, using the same basic designs. The Kashan carpet is covetable by kings, as it used to be commonplace to see them hanging on palace walls around the world.
There was a second carpet boom after World War II in Europe and America. Kashan weavers and manufacturers started actively producing carpets for foreign export, as well as the domestic market. Kashan carpets were considered investments, which homeowners greatly appreciated as carpets. The demand for Kashan carpets was so strong that some nearby villages and towns began weaving their own Kashan-type carpets. In this period, the most common design style was the center medallion surrounded by four quartered corner medallions on a red background. Weavers in Kashan typically refused to change designs or colors if a previous carpet style sold profitably. They are woven in the Shah Abbas style and added grape leaves or vines at times. These designs were available for more than two decades and were marketed both domestically and abroad.
As part of the carpet-weaving process, a design is developed from a collection of existing styles that include motifs such as flowers, leaves, branches, animals, and historical scenes. Traditionally, the fabric is woven using a loom known as a dar, whose warp and woof are both made of cotton or silk. Wool or silk yarns are knotted to the warp with the signature Farsi knot, then held in place by the weaved woof, and then beaten with a comb. As the backside of the carpet is finely and evenly knotted, the Farsi weaving technique (asymmetrical knotting) is employed with exemplary delicacy in Kashan. The colors of Kashan carpets are obtained through natural dyeing methods such as madder roots, walnut skins, pomegranate skins, and vine leaves.
as of today, the tradition is still alive. Daughters are taught the traditional Kashan carpet weaving skills by their mothers and grandmothers through apprenticeship. As a result of apprenticeships, men are also taught how to design, dye, shear, build looms and make tools. As part of the ancient Persian Empire, Kashan was one of the most important trading cities along the legendary Silk Road, which exists today. However, today, Kashan has lost its significance.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-skills-of-carpet-weaving-in-kashan-00383) (https://en.wikirug.org/wiki/Kashan_Rug) (https://www.carpet-wiki.com/persian-rugs/kashan/)