Srinagar, April 15 -- Today, the two brothers stand at the helm of Miras Carpet Industries, a thriving enterprise that has quietly become one of India's leading names in hand-knotted carpets and pashmina shawls. Their journey, however, began far from the design studios and export ledgers of modern business.

Raised in a middle-class family-sons of a junior engineer in the power department-Mir Nawaz and Mir Waseem were instilled with values of integrity and discipline. But they were also witnesses to a slow unraveling. In the 1990s, as political strife gripped the region, Kashmir's fabled artisan sector-renowned for its intricate carpets and heritage shawls-began to collapse. Master weavers laid down their tools. The looms went quiet.

"It...