This volume was published in conjunction with the homonym exhibition, "19th Century Kazak Rugs" held at the Gallery Moshe Tabibnia, Milan, from 18 April to 20 May 1995. "In Tatar language, the word "Kazak" means steppe horseman, free man or runaway. Accordingly, Kazak rugs are textile artefacts made by nomadic Turkic-Tartar speaking people who settled in the mountain villages of Southwest Caucasus, in an area encompassing the cities of Gendje, Erivan, Tiflis, Akhaltsykh and Kars".