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Zīlū seems to be a term of Persian origin. It refers to a type of reversible cotton floor “spread”, generally either blue and white or light brown and white in colour, which is decorated with stylized geometrical motifs and patterns. The blue cotton yarns in Zīlū are the same as those used in weaving palās, or denim cloth; the white yarns are undyed cotton (fig. 1).
Zīlū were the traditional floorcoverings in most mosques in the south, central and Khurasan regions of Iran, that is, in the country's drier areas; because the yarns used in their construction deteriorate in cold, damp environments, a/a are uncommon in otherparts of Iran. Zīlū were woven to fit the shabistān and the atvān of mosques. The names of patrons and craftsmen were customarily woven into those Zīlū presented as vaqfvo mosques and other religious institutions (figs. 2 - 3).
Information
- Type
- Medieval and Safavid Carpets and Textiles
- Information
- Iranian Studies , Volume 25 , Issue 1-2: The Carpets and Textiles of Iran: New Perspectives in Research , 1992 , pp. 31 - 36
- Copyright
- Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1992
Footnotes
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This paper was translated by Parvaneh Pourshariati.
References
1 Hudūd al-'Ālam, ed. M. Sutudah (Tehran, 1341 sh/1962), p. 95.
2 Op. cit., ibid., p. 102.
3 Ibid., 130.
4 Ibid., p. 159.
5 Ibid., p. 160.
6 Ibid., p. 135.
7 Fārsnāmah of Ibn Balkhi, ed. Le Strange, G. and Nicholson, R. A. (Cambridge, 1921).Google Scholar
8 Hudūd al-'Ālam, p. 102.
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11 Ibid., p. 126
12 Dabir-Siyaqi, Hamd Allah MustaufiNuzhat al-qulūb, ed. , M. (Tehran, 1336sh/1967) p. 112.Google Scholar
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14 It has been suggested that the term qālī derives from the name of this city.
15 Tārīkh-i Bathaqī, ed. Fayyaz, A. A. and Ghani, Q. (Tehran, 1324/1945), p.347.Google Scholar (Ed. note (ai): In modem usage, qaūfah refers to velvet; whether the term in medieval times also denoted a textile with a pile surface is unclear.)
16 Mahfūrī is a rug (farsh) connected with the small town of Mahfūr on the Mediterranean Sea. The best-known mahfūrī is mahfūrī-yi armanī, “the Armenian mahfūrī”, and it is mentioned in ancient texts such as the Zainal- Akhbār of Gardizi; see also Ravandi, M., Rāhat al S u d ū r , ed. Iqbal, M. (Leiden, 1921), p. 512.Google Scholar in Arabic, it is call mahfūrah; for example, Yaqut, in a note on quttaifah, says: “This is (an article) which today is called zuliyyah and mahfūrah”. In Persian, it is mentioned in the poetry of Farrukhi, e.g.: “I strewed some expensive Anatolian rugs in two or three places,/At the same time that I strewed a mahfūr in another direction”. We learn from the Majmū'ah-yi I tt ilā that it is a cotton (nakhī) and piled floor-covering like a zīlū, inferior in quality to a qālī and rather coarse and thick. (Ed. note (ai): We are indebted to Prof. Roger M. Savory for his assistance in the translation of this footnote.)
17 Ibid., p. 529.
18 Rashid al-Din Fazl Allah, Vaqfnāmah-yi Rub ‘i-yi-Rashīdī, ed. Minovi, M. and Afshar, I. (Tehran, 1356sh/1977), p. 139.Google Scholar
19 Op. cit., ibid., p. 129.
20 b. “Ali Katib, Ahmad b. Husain, Tārīkh-i Jadīd-i Yazd, ed. Afshar, I. (Tehran, 1345sh/ 1966), p. 115.Google Scholar
21 Ibid., op. cit., p. 118.
22 “Zīlū”, Lughatnāmah, ed. Dihkhuda, A.A. (Tehran, 1322sh./1943), vol. xiii, p. 641.Google Scholar
23 Iskandarnāmah (Psuedo-Callis Themes), ed. Afshar, I. (Tehran, 1322sh/1943), p. 599.Google Scholar
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25 Op. cit., ibid.
26 Tabrizi, Qatran, Dīvān, ed. Nakhavani, M. (Tabriz, 1327sh/1948), p.537.Google Scholar
27 Farhang-i Qaus, ed. Ahmad, N. (Tehran, 1352sh/1972), p. 156Google Scholar
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38 Op. cit., ibid.
39 Ibid., vol. I, p. 636 (illustrated). Another fragment from this same bequest is discussed in A. Ittig, “Notes on a Zīlū Fragment Dated 963/1556 in the Islamic Museum, Cairo”, in this volume, pp. 37-42.
40 This zīlū is illustrated in Yādgārhā-yi Yazd, vol. I, p. 492, no. 44/5; the date was incorrectly printed in this volume as 808 A.H.: ibid., p. 86. (Ed. note (ai): The first two digits of the date 1188, as well as the lām-alif of althānī and the alif of tahrīran appear on one side in red, rather than white, on a blue ground; and in blue on red on the reverse, which is illustrated here as fig. 4. These figures are not, therefore, clearly distinguished in the black and white illustration in Yādgārhā-yi Yazd.)
41 Ibid., vol. II, pp. 1333-39
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