Turkmenistan Shopping

Shopping

Buy Turkoman rugs are famous, tending to rich reds with geometric patterns. Sometimes they are called Bokhara rugs (which is actually a mistake as Bukhara is a city in the neighbouring Uzbekistan - but could be a remaint of the era then all of this territory was part of the Bukhara Emirate). Turkoman designs are now often copied in India and Pakistan. A good current reference is Murray Eiland Carpets: A Complete Guide The classic book is "Tappiseries de l'Asie Centrale", in Russian and French by AA Bogolyubov, Tsarist governor of Turkmenistan, in 1905. It was a limited edition with hand-painted illustrations, now rare and extremely expensive. A translation, "Carpets of Central Asia", was published in Britain in the 60s. Even it is now hard to find and expensive. However, if you intend spending a lot on these carpets, it is definitely worth reading. Look for it in libraries. Why not add to your own despotic library by adding Turkmenbashi's self-penned 'Ruhnama' book, exploring his views on what it means to be a Turkmen. Surprisingly, this is a fairly sensible read.