Carpet weaving was historically one of the most essential and revered cultural Kurdish activities. 

Kurdish weavings are diverse in their designs and structures and are usually attributed to specific tribes or geographical areas. After Sinne and Bijar, the third area in eastern Kurdistan, well known for its rugs, is Mahabad, also known as Saujbulagh rug in the Western markets.

In terms of range and intensity of color, autumnal oranges with soft blues, greens, and aubergine is a distinctive Kurdish palette of the Mahabad region. Some rugs have as many as fifteen colors, including terracotta, gold, turquoise and saffrons, giving them a "happy" upbeat coloration.

Mahabad rugs, like other Kurdish rugs, are woven with a symmetric knot, usually on a wool foundation. Later rugs from the beginning of the 19th century may have a cotton foundation. 

In 1911, orientalist George Griffin Lewis noted that "the nomadic life of the Kurds in former times enabled them to gather plants more easily and so they were able to obtain good vegetable dyes. Formerly also, the best wool only was used by the Kurds for making rugs, and the women chose only that which they knew would take the colors well."

The beauty of Mahabad designs is enriched by various symbols and motifs derived from the natural world and Kurdish mythology and other motifs shared with the surrounding cultures.

Mahabad rugs have mainly brown, red, yellow or blue as the background field color. The border is mainly decorated with the medachyl pattern, vine meander designs, lozenges, and "S" shaped motifs which are believed to be based on the Zoroastrian symbol of the sun; it is also considered a protective motif, meant to ward off against the evil eye. 

A variety of field motifs are used, most identified with this group is the "flaming palmette", also called "Kurdi palmette." However, stepped diamonds, tuning forks, floral lattice and lozenge designs are also often associated with the weavings of Mahabad.

Mahabad, "City of the Medes", is an important Kurdish cultural center and a symbol of Kurdish aspirations for sovereignty as it was the capital of the short-lived Republic of Mahabad in 1946.