Shahnawaz Ahmad Sofi, son of Gul Mohammad Sofi, a resident of Rathpora Eidgah Srinagar, completed his graduation in 2003 from the Institute of Music and Fine Arts and used to make portraits and was passionate about colours. After his graduation he took up his old family business of carpets (since 1950s) and decided to revive a 200 year old craft of single knot Pashmina carpets.

It is believed that a few British factories in Srinagar used to make such carpets during the Dogra rule. Sofi decided to revive this art and began with converting his art, including 3D art, in to woven pieces. He started making small wall hanging carpets with Quranic calligraphy and exported them to the gulf countries, from where he received a good response. He has also made some wall hanging carpets with paintings of the UAE rulers on them. He has made carpets of 2 ft x 3 ft with portraits of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Pashmina raw material is costly, it takes months for weavers to come up with a small piece. He is currently working on a 9 ft×12 ft single knot Pashmina carpet to be completed in 30 months, at his Karkanah (factory) at Eidgah in the old city Srinagar. Three weavers are working on this carpet which will cost approximately Rs 50 lakh in the market.

Sofi has not only revived an old art but also infused it with new patters, designs and colours.