Afghan Beljik Rug 7x10 · Hand-Knotted WoolAfghan Beljik Rug 7x10 | Beige, Brown & Tan | Hand-Knotted Wool

Named after Belgian wool

Where the name comes from. Beljik is how weavers in Afghanistan say “Belgian”. Decades ago, the fine wool for these rugs was spun and processed in mills in Belgium and Germany, and the name stayed with the wool and the rugs woven from it. Today the same fine, machine-spun wool comes from several mills, so the name now describes the quality of the wool rather than the country it came from.

Who weaves them. Beljik rugs are woven by Turkmen families in northern Afghanistan, around Mazar-i-Sharif, Andkhoy and Aqcha, in the classic Khal Mohammadi, Bokhara, Filpa (elephant foot) and Mauri designs.

What makes them different. Next to rugs of hand-spun local wool, Beljik wool is finer and more even. It allows a tighter knot, a dense, low pile and a crisp pattern you can read on the back, and it takes dye evenly, which gives the deep, glowing reds and natural silky sheen these rugs are known for. They take more to make, and they wear beautifully for decades.

Your rug. This 7x10 Beljik rug was woven by hand, one knot at a time. No other rug in the world is exactly like it.

Made by hand, in a family home

This rug was woven on a loom inside a family’s own home, most often by women, one knot at a time. A rug this size takes about three months to weave, which means steady income for a family in a country where paying work is scarce. We buy directly from weaving families and workshops we know, with no factories and no middlemen.

• Wool: sheared, washed and combed, then spun into yarn, much of it by hand.
• Dye: dyed in small batches, so every rug has gentle color shifts (abrash).
• Weaving: knotted by hand from a pattern or from memory, row after row.
• Finishing: beaten, sheared, singed, washed, stretched and dried by hand.

Read how our rugs are made

Rugistan® was founded in 2021 by Shams Frough. He served five years alongside U.S. forces as an interpreter in his native Afghanistan, then made Chicago home, where he put himself through college and is still studying today.

Shams and his wife run Rugistan® together, with showrooms in Evanston and Chicago. He still travels to the weaving regions himself and buys most of our rugs in person, from the families and workshops who make them. That's how we keep our prices fair. We also clean and repair handmade rugs.