Location: South west Persia. Afshar is a nomadic tribe which inhabits the tableland to the south of Kirman near Shiraz. Today the name of Afshar is also given to the rugs made in the villages in the area.

General Description: Though originally pure nomadic in inspiration, Afshar rugs share both nomadic and village features, both in their decoration and technical specification. The tribe originally came from Azerbaijan, between the Tigris and Euphrates, but after a dispute with the Turkish sultan, left their homeland for their present location. This happened in the late 16th century. Afshar rugs are made both on horizontal loom of the nomads and the vertical loom of the villages. Originally the warp and weft were of wool, but today it can be entirely of cotton or a wool weft with cotton warp.

Designs are varied and in addition to traditional Afshar designs include motifs from the repertoire of both the Kerman craftsman and the Fars tribe. Colours too are varied; cream and white being a distinctive feature- the most common grounds are blue or red.

The motifs can be divided into geometric and floral. Of the geometric designs, the most typical Afshar motif is the so called morgi or chicken design. In this the field is covered with what appears to be a repeated geometric chicken design. Another design derived from Shiraz is the large diamond motif, either two or three. The field is tightly covered with smaller motifs, sometimes portraying Kirman floral influence.