"Khila-Afshan" ( Azerbaijani: Xilə-əfşan) - pile carpets belonging to the Baku group of Absheron carpet weaving school. [2]
“Khila-Afshan” carpets received their name from the village of Khila (known as Amirjan now) in the administrative-territorial unit of the Absheron Peninsula, located 15 km away from Baku. The meaning of the word "Afshan" in dictionary is to scatter, to grind, colorful. [2] These carpets were later produced in Bulbula and Surakhani carpet weaving factories. These carpets, popularly known as "Sajayagi" ( Azerbaijani: Sacayağı), [2] are often called " Shirvan" by some foreign authors in their works, and mistakenly " Derbent" by others. [3]
Although "Afshan" carpets are produced in the north-east of Azerbaijan (Maraza, Bico), their complex composition is typical of the "Baku-Khila" carpet group and is known as "Khila-Afshan". [2]
The edge strip consists of a middle border and two small borders on either side of it. The edge that surrounds the composition "Gollu Afshan" (English: Afshan with a lake) is more complicated: four or two strips are added to the edge strips. The middle border is called the "Gadim heykal" (English: Ancient statue). The background of the middle field of "Khila-Afshan" carpets is usually navy blue, sometimes turquoise, blue, red or white. [2] The color of the corners, lakes and stripes matches the background of the middle area. [4]
The size of "Khile-afshan carpets" can vary from 130x200 cm to 150x250 cm. Elongated carpets were mostly produced in these carpet weaving centers.
The density of loops per square decimeter in "Khila-Afshan carpets" ranges from 40x40 loops to 45x45 loops. The number of loops per square meter varies from 160000 to 200000 loops.
The height of the pile of “Khila-Afshan carpets” is 5-7 mm. [1]