Our history · Est. 1927
Made by generations, loved for generations. From a single craftsman's pursuit in the carpet city of Bhadohi to a contemporary house reinterpreting heritage for modern living, this is the record of Raheem & Son, tied across four generations.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
A founding role in the Indian carpet trade
Raheem and Son is a CEPC-registered export house with a founding role in the modern Indian carpet trade. Our forefathers were among the founding members of the All India Carpet Trade Fair Committee in Varanasi, whose efforts to secure government support led to the formation of the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) in 1982, a milestone that brought global recognition and structure to Indian handmade carpets and helped place the craft on the world stage.
Recognition
In 2009 the Directorate of Industries, Government of Uttar Pradesh, awarded Raheem and Son the Four-Star Category Certificate in recognition of its industrial achievement. The distinction reinforced the house's standing among Bhadohi's serious export manufacturers and reflects standards held since 1927. It is a historic award: the certificate was valid for two years and lapsed in 2011, so CEPC registration is the only credential Raheem and Son currently holds.
Who we are
Raheem & Son is a CEPC-registered rug manufacturer and exporter, founded in 1927 in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and now in its fourth generation. RS LIVING, our online shop, sells single pieces made to order by the same Bhadohi house.
See also how we manufacture, our standards, our editorial policy and how to verify any Indian rug manufacturer.
1927 to today
Raheem & Son (RASHMO) was established in Bhadohi as one of the earliest Indian-owned carpet export houses. In an era when the trade was dominated by colonial firms, it stood apart as a homegrown enterprise, laying the groundwork for a generational legacy of craft.
The business expanded across continents, rising among Bhadohi's leading exporters. Despite British dominance of the industry, the family-owned company quietly marked Indian soil with excellence and carried Indian artistry to the world.
Alongside its own looms and its export trade, the house ran a buying agency. Overseas buyers came to Bhadohi to place their orders here, and the house put the work out to contractors across the belt and followed every rug from yarn to dispatch. It is work the house still does today.
Tufted weaving was introduced to the Indian industry through our American friend Nath K. Milgrim, who brought the first tufting gun. That same year, flat-weaving techniques were adopted, widening creative possibilities at the loom.
The founders served as founding members of the All India Carpet Trade Fair Committee in Varanasi, working to organise the trade and secure government support for India's handmade carpet exporters.
The RASHMO Group helped establish the Child Labour Eradication Welfare Society (CLEWS), beginning with the Titus Primary School, advancing education and community development beyond the loom.
The efforts of our founding members on the All India Carpet Trade Fair Committee in Varanasi bore fruit when the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) was established in 1982. As founding-member contributors to this milestone, Raheem and Son helped bring global recognition, structure and government backing to Indian handmade carpets, placing the craft formally on the world stage.
International visitors were warmly welcomed to our workshops, celebrating trust, shared vision, and relationships nurtured across borders, a reminder that this business has always centred on building enduring bonds.
CLEWS Primary School in Swarajyapuri shifted its focus from looms to learning, with the support of global patrons Ian Swart and HALI Australia, transforming it into a beacon of progress for the community.
Legendary cricketer Brian Lara endorsed the house after witnessing the craftsmanship first-hand, a true moment of pride for our heritage of handwoven excellence.
Photographs from villages like Khamaria and Mirzapur documented the dyeing, washing and artisan engagement behind every rug, ensuring our patrons experienced the craft at its source, and met the makers themselves.
The Primavera collection introduced a quiet revolution, an extraordinary colour gradation and tonal harmony achieved on the loom, something that redefined what was thought possible.
The house formalised its commitment to ethical making, a child-labour-free pledge, rooted in the CLEWS schools, so that every rug carried not only a maker's hand but a clear conscience.
Raheem and Son was awarded a 4-Star Category Certificate by the Directorate of Industries, Uttar Pradesh in recognition of its industrial achievements, a distinction that reinforced the house's standing among Bhadohi's serious export manufacturers and reflected a growing reputation for quality, scale and long-term ambition.
Colour brought fully in-house, with a controlled, consistent dyeing process using safe, colourfast dyes matched to specification. Results stay true at production scale, every time.
RS Contract was established to carry the craft to the scale of architecture, bespoke, large-format rugs for hospitality, workplace and residential projects worldwide, engineered from a single drawing.
Now in its fourth generation, the house steps confidently into a new era, a culmination of a century's worth of knots, relationships and reputation, and a standard for what is to come.
For ninety-nine years the looms wove for other people's rooms. A rug left Bhadohi in a container and the family never saw the floor it came to rest on. RS Living closes that distance. The same weavers, the same wool, the same standard set in 1927, now sold one piece at a time, made to order, direct to the home it was meant for.
A century of looms, faces and far-flung friendships, fragments from the Raheem & Son archive.
“We have never thought of ourselves as a factory. We think of ourselves as keepers of a craft, and the rug is simply how we keep it.”
The Raheem family
Journal
Material · 23 October 2026
At 100 knots per square inch a hand-knotted rug holds 14,400 knots per square foot; at 80, 11,520. A 9 x 12 ft rug therefore holds 1,555,200 or 1,244,160 knots. Here is the count for all nine standard sizes, and what density does not tell you.
Export · 23 October 2026
Knotted rugs fall under HS 5701, woven flatweaves under 5702 and tufted rugs under 5703. As fetched on 23 October 2026: in the US the general rate on wool knotted rugs is 4.5% plus a 10% Section 301 duty on Indian goods; in the UK it is 0% with 20% VAT. Not customs advice.
Sourcing · 30 October 2026
16 Indian Bhadohi carpet manufacturers scored on five public criteria, with the scoring rule and sources shown. Ranked by Raheem & Son, which is included and placed first.
Further reading: Raheem & Son facts at a glance our businesses, the rug glossary and how Indian rug exporters compare.
Handmade in Bhadohi, India. Shipped to homes, showrooms and projects across more than 130 countries.