On the history of madder (Rubia peregrina L., and Rubia tinctorum L.) in pre-modern Iran and the Caucasus

Abstract

Abstract For roughly four thousand years the pulverized roots of both wild (Rubia peregrina L.) and cultivated (Rubia tinctorum L.) madder have been used in Asia, North Africa and Europe as a red dye. Madder’s original, natural habitat extended from Iran to the Mediterranean and madder roots were gathered, processed and used long before the plant was systematically cultivated. Although the red dye derived from madder was put to various uses, the dyeing of fibres for use in textiles and carpets was the primary one, and is first attested c. 2000 BC in Mesopotamian cuneiform sources. In Iran madder’s use can be traced from late Antiquity to the modern era, and may have begun as early as the 1st millennium BC. In the 19th century demand for madder in India and Russia was great, spurring large investment in madder cultivation as a cash crop, both in Iran and in the Caucasus. Documents are presented which provide detailed accounts of both madder cultivation and the processing of the roots for the production of dyestuff. The introduction of synthetic dyes in the 1870s largely eradicated the market for madder-based dye in Eurasia and had a profound impact on the carpet industry, in particular.