During the Mamluks dynasty, carpets had intricate centralized designs in red, green, blue, and yellow revolving around one or more large octagonal medallions. The entire field is closely decorated with geometrical motifs composed of more or less regular octagons, hexagons, and triangles that produce an almost kaleidoscopic effect. Warp, weft and pile are S-spun, a technique normally associated with Egyptians, and the carpets are all knotted with an asymmetrical knot open to the left. Mamluk carpets are normally made of wool but one extraordinary example with three medallions was knotted in silk, giving a lustrous and radiant effect. This dynasty, of which many examples were exported to Italy, has been attributed to several centers on the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean between the 15-17th century, when either the Mamluk (until 1517) or Ottoman sultans ruled the region.

In the 16th century under the Safavids dynasty the production of carpets became a state enterprise, and the first signed and dated carpets survived from this period, indicating that carpets had achieved new importance as works of art. Unlike traditional nomadic carpets, which were woven from memory, the designs for these factory-made carpets were carefully prepared on paper. One particularly fine example is asymmetrically knotted in many brilliant colors of wool on silk warps and cotton wefts with approximately 41 knots per square centimeter (265 knots per square inch). The lobed central medallion, depicting 40 flying cranes, is surrounded by a lively hunting scene on a deep blue ground.

The Safavids monopoly of the silk trade became their main source of wealth and a crucial source of revenue for the Safavids state. The figural designs popular in court carpets and textiles of the 16th century were increasingly superseded by floral patterns. Another group of carpets attributed to the time of Abbas I is the so-called "vase carpets." Their one directional design is characterized by a lattice on three planes, one system composed of a ivory spiraling vine, the others of thicker red and blue stems. The stems issue from vases & bear an abundance of large and small blossoms, sprays, and leaves.

Production increased under the patronage of the Mughals in the 16th century, when Indian craftsmen adopted Persian techniques and designs. Although the carpets of western Asia are better known, there was also a long tradition of knotting rugs in Islamic Spain. Made at least from the 12th century, Spanish carpets were traded into Europe from the 13th century. The growing popularity of Turkish carpets in Europe only encouraged Spanish production, and Spanish weavers adopted several Turkish design motifs, although they continued to use a distinctive type of knot, tied on only one warp thread.