Khalil Ahamad
A Mirzapur master weaver known as the "carpet man" who has trained thousands of young artisans, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
Khalil Ahamad is a master weaver of carpets and durries from Mirzapur, known as the “carpet man”. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of art, from Uttar Pradesh [1].
A weaver’s life
He was born on 15 March 1948 into a very poor family, and his childhood was hard [2]. Through skill and persistence he mastered the weaving of traditional Persian-design carpets and durries [2].
Trainer
Ahamad brought Persian-design weaving to unemployed young people in Mirzapur, training thousands of them so they could earn a living [2]. He has encouraged them to start their own businesses, and many have become successful entrepreneurs or joined export houses in Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Panipat [2]. He has also trained hundreds of panja durrie weavers in state government programmes [2].
He has demonstrated his craft at the Crafts Museum in Delhi from 1992 and at fairs abroad, including in Glasgow (1992), London (1993), Turkmenistan (1994) and Frankfurt (2014) [2].
Honours
He received the national award for handicrafts (durries) from the Ministry of Textiles in 2000 and the Shilp Guru award in 2008 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2024: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2024: citation for Khalil Ahamad — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
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