Afghan War Rug, Soviet Phase, BMD-2, HIND M-24 c. 1980s

Soon after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1979, a special group of, at first, smaller and then larger pictorial oriental rugs began appearing on the world's rug markets. They first showed up in the tax-free-port warehouses of Hamburg and soon appeared in all of the major markets. They depicted weaponry and war scenes of the war in Afghanistan, in astonishing detail. The detail is such that experts (such as Russian veterans of the war) can tell which part of the country the rug came from by the weaponry depicted. For example, if armored vehicles are prominent, the rug was likely to have come from western Afghanistan, perhaps the Herat area, for the terrain there (plains) are conducive to armor operations, rather than in the central and eastern areas of the country where mountains are the dominating terrain feature.

This is an Afghan war rug made in NW Afghanistan by Afghan Baluch, Taimani sub-tribe, c. 3' x 5'. Construction is of wool knotted pile, wool warp and blue/gray cotton weft.. About the weaver. We know that she was a woman for it was they who did the weaving in Baluch society. The Taimani inhabit an area to the east of Herat in Ghor Province. They are the largest sub-tribe in a four sub-tribe alliance known as the Chahar Aimaq Confederation. Chahar Aimaq is Turkic/Mongol for "four tribes", which are the Hazara, Firozkhoi, Jamshidi and Taimani. These are semi-nomadic groups, spending winters in towns and summers in tents at summer pasturage.

The Opponents: The Soviet soldier carries a heavy Vladimirov 11.7 mm. machine-gun. The Afghan Mujihadeen carries a Kalashnikov light machine-gun, RPD, 7.62 mm., with bipod.

This is an Afghan war rug, 3' x 5', c. 1980s. Construction is of knotted wool pile, wool warp, and gray/blue cotton wefts. This is typical Afghan Baluch village construction and differentiates this rug from later refugee camp and city production. Ranks of BMD-2 armored personnel carriers, M-24 HIND assault helicopters, and three cars appear on the blue field. Mujihadeen commanders were fascinated with pick-up trucks and SUVs. They were a sort of status symbol. There is a story about Osama bin Ladin and SUVs. In the mid 80s he and his chief Lts. Went to London to outfit themselves for Afghanistan. The only such place he knew of was an old Safari outfitter his uncles had patronized over the years. They went to Afghanistan looking like a Victorian era big game hunting party. The rebel commanders laughed them out of camp, calling them “Gucci Guerillas.” He left Afghanistan, purchased a couple of hundred SUVs, returned to Afghanistan and distributed them to the principle Mujihadeen commanders. From then on they treated him as an equal.

Scroll down for several photos from the war.

"I am a rebel soldier and I'm far from my home"
Rebel Soldier, Waylon Jennings, Songs of the Civil War

It is all over A Soviet soldier reacts to the news that a ceasefire has been arranged. The Soviet phase of the war (1979-1989) is over.

Soviet armored vehicles with main armaments in "guns up" mode. During the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, by agreement, Soviet fighting vehicles marching directly for the Soviet border with "guns up" were allowed to pass unhindered by Mujihadeen fighters.

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Much of the Afghan material, utilitarian bags and animal trappings, Afghan Baluch rugs, and Uzbek flatweaves that we offer here on e-Bay date back nearly 50 years and more, yet many are in new, unused condition. Therein hangs a tale. We have a very good Afghan friend whose uncle is the head of a large extended Afghan family. The family was very prominent in the rug business in Western Afghanistan. The Uncle, as early as the mid 1970's "didn't like the smell of things" (politics, factionalism and other conditions and forces that led to the ghastly Afghan/Soviet War, 1979-1989), and, over time, moved the family and the family's rugs to what was then West Germany. The rugs were stored in warehouses in the Zollfreilager (tax free zone) in Hamburg. We were privileged to accompany our friend on a tour of one of the warehouses while in Hamburg for an international rug conference in the early '90s. At that time we committed to a sizable group of these rugs of which we receive incremental shipments, under very favorable terms, for which we thank our friend and his family.