Agra has been a major center of carpet production since the great period of Mughal art in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. When the carpet industry was revived there under British rule in the nineteenth century, the great Mughal tradition got a new lease on life, accompanied by a new interest in the sorts of classically derived designs current in Persian rug production during the same period. Because of this, nineteenth and early twentieth century Agra carpets enjoyed a varied and eclectic background that could draw on all the great achievements of Oriental carpet weaving. Antique Agra rugs present elegant allover designs alongside medallion or centralized patterns. They have the rich pungent palette of classical Indian and Persian carpets as well as soft, cool earthy tones.