$2,900
The rugs of Karadja, Azerbaijan NW Persia, are one of our specialities.
The Karadja rugs are famous for their hard-wearing wool and decorative hues.
The two badges or “guls” of these Turkic Persians, descendants of the great Qizilbash tribes, retain the power they once wielded. Crashing dynasties, forming empires, making history is the Karadja milieu.
In stock
If you would like to see a particular product in person through our Bangalow store, please contact us in advance so we can be of the best assistance.
hello@therugshop.com.au / 02 6687 2424
Free Shipping within Australia.
Your rug will be shipped within 1-3 business days and should arrive within 3-5 business days from the ship date. Multiple items within the same order may not arrive together.
When your order is processed, you will receive an email containing a tracking number and dispatch confirmation.
Domestic shipping we use TNT express couriers & Aus post.
International shipping we use INTERPARCEL.
Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery. Please contact us as soon as possible if you are considering a return. Buyer is responsible for return postage cost. Any returns must be unused and in original of when purchased.
No returns on our “Clearance” rugs or any rugs on sale.
The Persian Karadja Runner Rug is a rare combination of symmetry and spirit, a long-format weaving born in the remote mountain village of Karadja in northwestern Persia. Known for its angular medallions and durable weave, this rug type carries the DNA of the Heriz region while maintaining its own distinct character—sharper, narrower, and often more spirited.
At The Rug Shop, we take pride in offering authentic Karadja Runner Rugs made by hand with hand-spun wool and natural dyes. These are not mass-produced copies. They are original works of a living tradition, designed not for fleeting style but for permanence and cultural depth.
A true Karadja Runner Rug is instantly recognisable. Unlike the wider, bolder medallions of neighbouring Heriz carpets, Karadja runners feature a linear progression of stepped lozenges—sometimes octagonal, sometimes square—repeating down the centre of a long, narrow field. Each medallion is framed, grounded, and carefully spaced. The geometry is not decorative flourish, but a controlled language passed down through generations of weavers.
These designs are drawn from memory, not stencil, and carry within them tribal references that are older than the borders on a map. The medallions are not identical, but they maintain a visual rhythm—each one echoing the last with subtle variation. This is the poetry of the Karadja Runner Rug: formal repetition made personal through the hand.
Made entirely by hand, the Karadja Runner Rug uses wool that is sheared, spun, and dyed by the weavers or within their own community. The result is wool with texture—rich in lanolin, springy underfoot, and capable of holding deep natural dyes. There’s a tactile presence to these rugs that can’t be imitated by machine-made pieces.
The colour palette is traditionally strong: madder red, deep indigo, ivory, and touches of sky blue or burnt orange. But the beauty lies in how those colours shift within the wool—never flat, never artificial. Abrash—the subtle, natural variations in shade—gives the surface movement and tone.
At The Rug Shop, we seek out Karadja Runner Rugs that preserve these qualities: true vegetable dyes, undamaged pile, and the unmistakable hand-spun softness that marks an honest village weave.
Runners serve a practical purpose, to be sure. They guide the foot through long spaces—corridors, stairwells, passageways. But the Karadja Runner Rug transforms that function into something finer. It brings pattern and rhythm underfoot, a visual path that enhances the quiet geometry of everyday movement.
In a way, the runner format mirrors the journey of the weaver herself—each medallion a step forward, each border a frame of her memory. That sense of narrative is part of what makes the Karadja Runner Rug so compelling. You don’t just see it. You move with it.
The structure of a Karadja Runner Rug is built for use. Woven tightly on a cotton warp with a robust knotting technique, these rugs hold up to time and traffic. Many antique examples still show a full, lush pile. Others, though worn, retain their clarity of design and structure.
This durability is not incidental—it’s a feature of the highland environment from which the rugs come. Harsh winters, stone homes, and hardworking interiors demand textiles that can withstand pressure. A Karadja Runner Rug was made to be used—and to remain beautiful through that use.
No two Karadja Runner Rugs are alike. Though the medallion format is consistent, the spacing, colours, and border styles all vary from piece to piece. Some include subtle tribal flourishes—tiny birds, abstract flowers, angular rosettes—woven in with discretion.
At The Rug Shop, we celebrate these differences. We do not seek uniformity. We seek voice. Each runner we offer is selected not to match a trend but to preserve the uniqueness of its maker. That’s what gives these rugs their soul.
The Karadja Runner Rug is more than a decorative length of wool. It is a measured composition of form and fibre—woven with clarity, designed to endure, and grounded in a place where weaving is not a pastime but a way of living.
At The Rug Shop, we honour that. Each Karadja Runner Rug we present carries the heritage of the mountains, the discipline of geometry, and the subtle individuality of the hand that made it.
It’s not just a rug. It’s a path—in pattern, in purpose, and in time.
Can I get the same rug in a different size?
Each of our rugs is an individual, hand made work of art because of that it is not possible for us to have duplicates in different sizes.
How are your rugs made?
All of our rugs are 100% Handmade on a loom. We have created a close relationship with all of the craftspeople who make our rugs which allows us to get the highest quality rugs directly from the people who made them.
Are your rugs new/used?
We offer a variety of both new and used Persian rugs from many areas including Persia, Turkey, and Morocco see below for more info on locations.
NEW: We support over 30 families in Afghanistan who produce the highest quality Persian rugs.
OLD ANTIQUE VINTAGE: We source our used rugs from village and tribal families at source. As well as attend worldwide auctions. We have formed relationships with Persian rug collectors that allow us to get incredible pieces that are not normally on the market.
Can I try before i buy?
We have a “try before you buy” system for approved customers.
Where are your rugs from?
Afghanistan, Persia, Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Morocco etc.
