Karakul
Encyclopedia
See also: Karakul (disambiguation)
Karakul or Qaraqul (named after Qorako‘l
, a city in Bukhara Province in Uzbekistan
) is a breed of domestic sheep which originated in Central Asia
. Some archaeological evidence points to Karakul sheep being raised there continuously since 1400 BC.
Hailing from the desert
regions of Central Asia
, Karakul sheep are renowned for their ability to forage
and thrive under extremely harsh living conditions. They can survive because of a special quality they have, storing fat in their tails. Karakul are also raised in large numbers in Namibia
, having first been brought there by German colonists in the early 20th century.
, meat, pelts, and wool
. As a fat-tailed breed, they have a distinctive meat. Many adult Karakul are double-coated; in this case, people separate the coarse guard hair from the undercoat. Karakul is relatively coarse fiber used for outer garment, carpet
s and for felting.
.
Karakul (disambiguation)
Karakul may refer to:*Karakul , a breed of domestic sheep and its pelt or wool*Karakul , a style of caps made with the aforementioned pelt or wool, traditionally worn in Central and South Asia-Places:...
Qorako‘l
See also: Karakul Qorako‘l also spelled as Karakul is a town in the Buxoro Province of Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Qorako‘l District ....
, a city in Bukhara Province in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
) is a breed of domestic sheep which originated in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. Some archaeological evidence points to Karakul sheep being raised there continuously since 1400 BC.
Hailing from the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
regions of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, Karakul sheep are renowned for their ability to forage
Forage
Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially...
and thrive under extremely harsh living conditions. They can survive because of a special quality they have, storing fat in their tails. Karakul are also raised in large numbers in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, having first been brought there by German colonists in the early 20th century.
Use by humans
Karakul sheep are a multi-purpose breed, kept for milkingMilking
Milking is the act of removing milk from the mammary glands of an animal, typically cows , water buffalo, goats, sheep and more rarely camels, horses and donkeys. Milking may be done by hand or by machine.-Hand milking:...
, meat, pelts, and wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
. As a fat-tailed breed, they have a distinctive meat. Many adult Karakul are double-coated; in this case, people separate the coarse guard hair from the undercoat. Karakul is relatively coarse fiber used for outer garment, carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
s and for felting.
Karakul pelts
Very young or even fetal Karakul lambs are prized for pelts. Newborn karakul sheep's pelts are called karakul (also spelled caracul), swakara (coined from South West Africa Karakul), astrakhan (Russian), Persian lamb, agnello di Persia, (Italian), krimmer (Russian) and garaköli bagana (Turkmen). Sometimes the terms for newborn lambs' and fetal lambs' pelts are used interchangeably. The newborn lambs have a tight, curly pattern of hair. The lambs must be under three days old when they are killed, or they will lose their black color and soft, tightly wound coils of fur. Dark colors are dominant and lambs often darken in color as they age. Fetal karakul lambs' pelts are called broadtail, breitschwanz (German), and karakulcha. People use the lambs' pelts to create various clothing items, such as the karakul hat. The pelts have been used in haute coutureHaute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
.
See also
- Karakul (hat)
- MonteraMonteraA montera is the hat traditionally worn by many males and females in the folk costumes of the Iberian peninsula.It has come to name also but not exclusively the ones used by bullfighters, introduced to the ritual event in 1835 by Francisco 'Paquiro' Montes as accompaniment to the traje de luces, or...
Spanish bullfighter's hat - American Karakul Sheep Registry http://www.karakulsheep.com