Çınar’s artisans knot history. Queen’s Delight, a kimono silk carpet whose pattern mirrors the red‑sandstone gate of Fatehpur Sikri, Emperor Akbar’s desert capital of 1571. Five tones speak for the design—Velvet, Gold, Harvest, Dark, and the ice‑blue Royal tone sought by collectors. Queen’s Delight’s knots reprise the scalloped arch and floral lattice hewn in Mughal stone. The details of this artwork are worth reading.
Fatehpur Sikri: A City Raised for Triumph
Fatehpur Sikri rose when a mystic, Shaikh Salim Chishti, foretold Akbar’s heir. The emperor labeled the conquest of Gujarat by building a mighty capital upon an arid ridge. Stone channels carried water from Agra. Palaces, a grand mosque, courts, and three dwellings for favored queens filled the complex. The Mughal Empire contributed about 25 percent of the world’s GDP, or about $21 trillion in today’s money. Interestingly, Fatehpur Sikri is the origin of several board games. At the time of its existence, people (usually women) were used as the pieces, and games were played at the Parcheesi Court. Courtyards held giant board games where palace women served as living pieces. In 1585, the court shifted toward Lahore, and the sandstone halls fell silent. Their walls remain pristine. UNESCO placed the site on its World Heritage list in 1986.
From Fatehpur Sikri to the Taj Mahal
Akbar’s line passed to Jahangir and then to Shah Jahan, whose loyalty toward Mumtaz Mahal built the Taj Mahal. White marble, jade, crystal, and lapis lazuli formed a mausoleum crowned by a gilded dome, completed after twenty-two years of labor by twenty thousand hands. Architects repeated Fatehpur Sikri’s carved arches on the marble gateway. Aurangzeb later confined Shah Jahan within Agra Fort, where the bereaved ruler stared at the glowing tomb until his final breath, then rested beside Mumtaz.
The Pattern of Kings
Akbar the Great, ruling the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, grew the kingdom’s coffers, tripling the empire’s size and wealth. Jahangir, his son, succeeded him and maintained the dynasty’s fervor. After taking the throne, Shah Jahan constructed the magnificent Taj Mahal as a monument to his wife, Mumtaz.
The designs of Fatehpur Sikri are as evident as day in these palaces. The gates’ delicate designs, flowing from Akbar’s vision, found their way to the Taj Mahal’s marble.
Ahmet Çınar’s Visit
Ahmet Çınar tracked Fatehpur Sikri’s discrete avenues and noted connections with Spain’s Alhambra. The measured rhythm of the main gate sparked a vision for Queen’s Delight. Ahmet had already decided that the story and the visual feast he was moved by should be a carpet pattern.
Çınar’s designers drew lattice from the Mughal portal, arches, and lotus blossoms. To accommodate silk knots, they changed the proportions. Spinners prepared kimono silk, dyers fixed plant colours, and pattern graphs journeyed toward one hundred fifty Anatolian workshops. The double Turkish knot, which has been famed since the Pazyryk rug, was used by artisans to tie the motifs together.
Five Hues, One Story
Velvet transmits burgundy warmth. Royal light gleams in gold. Harvest proposes saffron earthiness. Dark commands passionate space. Royal glints ice blue and draws the widest of those watching. All carpets knotted from kimono silk claim a lustrous face—knots tied by hand safeguard durability.
From Silk Cocoon to Salon
Raw silk from Brazil meets Swiss dye, then moves toward looms prepared by artisans. After months or even years, finished carpets are returned for a sequence of processes: washing, trimming, steaming, and final inspection before shipment to Çınar showrooms.
Queen’s Delight, no ordinary Çınar Rug, integrates a tale of love and craft, linking Fatehpur Sikri’s grandeur with the Taj Mahal’s faith. Owners experience the royal fire and craftsmanship with a single step, as if walking through history, as one knot transports centuries of soul.
A Silk Tribute to Love and Victory
Queen’s Delight is a silken bridge linking Akbar’s red city, Shah Jahan’s marble elegy, and Anatolia’s knotting art: five colours, endless stories, one carpet: a Turkish salute to Mughal grandeur and everlasting devotion.
