Koliayie Rugs

Koliai (also spelled Koliayie, Koliayi) rugs are woven by Kurdish tribes who originally led nomadic lives in the Songhor district of western Iran—part of the wider Kurdistan and Kermanshah weaving zone. These are authentic tribal rugs: firmly knotted with a high pile and a saturated, lively color scale that feels both energetic and grounded.

Classic Koliai designs feature a large central medallion with a hexagonal Herati diamond, elaborate corner spandrels, and a generous main border. Older pieces are woven on a wool warp; later examples use cotton. The highly lanolin-rich, mountain-grazed wool gives Koliai rugs a distinctive sheen and makes them exceptionally durable. Cecil Edwards, in his landmark book The Persian Carpet, specifically praised the quality of wool from Kurdish flocks in Kermanshah—and Koliai sits right at the heart of that tradition.

These are rugs that feel genuinely alive—full of the spirited energy of the mountain tribes that wove them, at home equally in rustic or design-forward settings.