c1940s Antique Caucasian Shirvan Kazak Rug 6.2x10.0
Qazax (Kazakh, Kazak, Kasak, Gazakh). The most used spelling today is Qazax but rug people use Kazak so I generally do as well. Part of this project is a constant refinement based on adding in new information. Now as I try to define Kazak I have to turn to the geography and history of the region. When I speak of Kazak rugs I am referring to rugs from the old Kazak Khanate. Qazax is a city of about twenty thousand people in Northwest Azerbaijan at 41.10?N, 45.35?E. In the Caucasus people live in valleys and mountain peaks are the dividers. Kazak was an important city because it controlled a series of valleys that extend from modern Azerbaijan into Armenia and Georgia. The people of this region are Azeri Turks, Armenians, Albanians, and Northern Caucasian. There are also Greeks, Russians, and Georgians, in the area but they do not appear to have made a significant number of rugs.
