Located half-way down Al Mergab Street sits a quite unassuming shop bearing the name ‘Kashmir Handicrafts Emporium’. Yet opening the door is akin to opening a Pandora’s box of delights, and you can happily spend many an hour browsing and being entertained by the charming and incredibly knowledgeable owner, Riyaz Bhat, aka The Rug Man.

When Bhat first opened his shop back in 2000, he felt both apprehension and trepidation. ‘When you start a new business it is dark in front of you, you don’t know what’s going to happen, new country, new people, new area,’ he says. However, on the second day of opening, Bhat sold three tribal carpets to his first customer, the dean of VCU Qatar. So impressed was he with the shop, and Bhat, that the next day he brought him another customer, and the day after she brought a friend.

Suddenly Bhat was in business, and the name Rug Man was born. And he explains that what began as an affectionate tag is now much more. ‘It’s become a trademark now, everyone knows The Rug Man, and I have a website under that name,’ he reveals.

It’s an appropriate name, given that Bhat’s family in Kashmir has a history in the business. ‘We have a background of weaving rugs for the last 500 years. My father is a great weaver and created the most beautiful carpets in history,’ he says, before adding ‘carpets are in my blood.’

Upstairs in Kashmir Handicrafts Emporium is an Aladdin’s cave of rugs; the simply decorated room is brought to life with the array of colours emanating from this wonderful collection. Each rug is wreathed in history and tells a story of a nomadic family; these are more than just rugs, they are pieces of art. Bhat explains exactly what constitutes a tribal rug: ‘A family rug, or tribal rug, is one made by one person for his or her own use. So when they make this rug, they use it, any genuine tribal rug will never be brand new. They make it and use it in their tent, then they make a new one and sell the old one.’

The rugs are made mainly by the women in the tribe; women who are uneducated, yet the designs they weave are amazingly intricate and in many cases symmetrical, with designs being passed from mother to daughter across the ages. Depending on the size these truly stunning rugs can take years to make, with colours sourced from plants and roots used to make the natural dyes.

The majority of these nomadic rugs are sourced from Afghanistan, apparently the most popular area in Central Asia for nomadic tribes. ‘It’s beautiful, lush green with forests, lakes and streams,’ says Bhat. ‘Most of the tribes try to go to Afghanistan and settle there. There are now a variety of tribes, not only native Afghan tribes that live there’.

Each year Bhat makes this journey there to purchase nomadic rugs. ‘We go through the most dangerous road, the Afghanistan and Pakistan boarder. My cousin and I have five gunmen with us. These gunman are legal and licensed bodyguards in two jeeps,’ he says. ‘Everyone knows we have weapons and people do not come near us. I have done this for the last 23 years.’

It’s an expedition that Bhat doesn’t undertake lightly, but he knows these tribes now rely on him for their livelihoods: ‘I am very happy, and deep inside I feel I am supporting a good cause, helping these people and buying their rugs and selling them here. I am risking my life going there, but I still want to go and meet these wonderful people, it’s amazing. For all these years these people have suffered, living difficult lives. Even in these terrible times, they still weave beautiful rugs.’

Bhat is an incredible character, a man whose unbridled passion for rugs goes beyond just business. ‘When we sell every item we give the complete story of the carpet with the map of the area it has come from, it helps you to know what you have,’ he says.

Bhat’s absolute enthusiasm is infectious as he speaks animatedly about purchasing not just a handmade tribal rug but also a family heirloom. ‘They really are like paintings, great pieces of art. You will never change the carpet; it will remain with you your whole life. The magic of tribal rugs is that they never look used; they are so strong. The rugs that we see in museums are made by nomads because these rugs last forever.’
Kashmir Handicrafts Emporium is located on Al Mergab Street. Also see www.the-rugman.com