Bhadohi..... 11/07/2011
 

As described in wikipedia......

Bhadohi (Hindi: भदोही ) is a city ,Lok Sabha constituency and a municipal board in Sant Ravidas Nagar district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Bhadohi is also one of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha (State Legislative Assembly). Postal Identification Code (PIN) is 221401. It is home to the largest hand-knotted carpet weaving industry hubs in South Asia. The Indian Institute of Carpet Technology, the only Institute of its kind in Asia, was established in the city, by the Ministry of Textiles in 2001, with B.Tech. courses in carpet and textiles technology.

The City is located at 25.42°N 82.57°E. It has an average elevation of 85 metres (278 feet).

Bhadohi gets its name supposedly from Bhar Raj of the region which had Bhadohi as its capital, whose traces can be found in the names of ruined mounds and old tanks named after the Bhar rulers, a tributary of Kannauj kingdom, which in the early medieval period was included in the Kingdom of Jaunpur. During the reign of Mughal Emperor, Akbar, Bhadohi was made a dasturand included in the sarkar of Allahabad. By the fifteenth century the Bhar were overpowered by Maunas Rajputswith Sagar Rai as the first head of the clan, and his grandson, Jodh Rai received it as a zamindari sanad(deed) from Shah Jahan. However around 1750 AD due to non payment of land revenue arrears, Raja Pratap Singh of Pratapgarh, in lieu of his paying the arrears gave the entire pargana to Balwant Singh of Benaras, subsequently he received it directly under a sanad from Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh under British influence in 1770 AD, and it remained with Benaras till 1947. In 1911, Bhadohi came under first Maharaja of the newly created princely state of Benares ruled by Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh.

The Bhadohi district is biggest carpet manufacturing centres in India, most known for its hand-knotted carpet. While the Mirzapur-Bhadohi region is the largest handmade carpet weaving cluster, engaging around 3.2 million people in the industry, Bhadohi alone employs 22 lakh rural artisans in its 100 percent export-oriented industry, which accounts for about 75 per cent of the Rs 4,400 Crore total carpet exports from India exporting carpets worth Rs 2,505.33 crore during period (FY) April 2009 - March-2010. 

Carpet weaving in the region date back to the 16th century, during the reign of Mughal Emperor, Akbar and is believed to have established when centuries ago, some Iranian master weavers stopped at Madhosingh village, near Khamaria, in Bhadohi while travelling in India, and subsequently set up looms here.

In September 2011, the carpets of the region received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which means carpets manufactured in nine districts of the region, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Sonebhadra,Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jaunpur and Chandauli would be tagged with 'HANDMADE CARPETS OF BHADOHI'. Most of the production is aimed at foreign countries. Well known carpet types from Bhadohi include cotton dhurries, Chhapra Mir carpets, Loribaft, Indo Gabbeh but also Nepalese carpets and more recent shaggy type carpets. They are manufactured in various qualities. Apart from All India Carpet Manufacturers Associations, Following associations are also involved in representing trade interest and lobbying for various concessions / incentives from the government 

 - All India Carpet Yarn Spinners & Dealers Association, Bhadohi,   
 - Eastern U.P.Exporters Association, Varanasi,  (url : www.eupea.org)
 - Indo- American Chamber of Commerce, Varanasi;  - Mirzapur Carpet Manufacturers Association, Mirzapur,
 - The Handicrafts Exporters Association, New Delhi,   
 - Delhi Exporters Association, New Delhi; 
 - Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), New Delhi, 
 - Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), New Delhi,  
 - Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII), New Delhi, 
 - Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry(FICCI), New Delhi, 
 - Indian Merchant Chamber, Mumbai, UNCTAD.


Overview distance from Bhadohi to Varanasi is approximately 45 km and takes about sixty minutes by car. Bhadohi is 80 km from Allahabad. It is close to the holy river Ganges (which is about 29 km from the city area in the nearby district of Mirzapur). There are quite a few good temples in & around Bhadohi like the famous Hariharnath Temple, Vindhyanchal Temple and Sitamadhy Temple.

Prior to receiving the Geographical Indication (GI) rights for its carpets in 2011, Bhadohi was named amongst the six districts of Uttar Pradesh, wherein weavers of the traditional Banarasi sarees were allowed to sell under the ‘Banaras Brocades and Sarees’ tag, after it received GI tag in September 2011. The region is also known for its traditional basketry, wherein handwoven baskets and other utility products made exclusively by the women.

Rinku Singh, who along with Danesh kaneria became the first Indians to sign a major league baseball contract, is a native of Bhadohi. 

Exporters and Traders operating out of Bhadohi have successfully been able develop carpets & rugs as per various  classification of Persian carpets which are mainly defined on the basis of their design, type of fabric and weaving technique adopted by native craftsmen of original weaving place in estwhile Persia (now Iran / Iraq/ Afganistan..etc) as under :
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