Dhobi
Washerman caste in India
title: "Dhobi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["indian-castes", "laundry", "dalit-communities", "scheduled-castes-of-uttar-pradesh", "scheduled-castes-of-bihar", "scheduled-castes-of-rajasthan", "scheduled-castes-of-jharkhand", "scheduled-castes-of-odisha", "scheduled-castes-of-assam", "scheduled-castes-of-madhya-pradesh", "scheduled-castes-of-delhi", "scheduled-castes-of-uttarakhand", "scheduled-castes-of-mizoram", "scheduled-castes-of-meghalaya", "other-backward-classes-of-karnataka"] description: "Washerman caste in India" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Washerman caste in India ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| group | Dhobi |
| image | A dhobie (washerman) ironing in the early 1870s.jpg |
| image_caption | Carte-de-visite of a Dhobi ironing. |
| religions | Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism |
| related_groups | Muslim Dhobi |
| :: |
| group = Dhobi | image = A dhobie (washerman) ironing in the early 1870s.jpg | image_caption = Carte-de-visite of a Dhobi ironing. | religions = Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism | related_groups = Muslim Dhobi
Dhobi, known in some places as Dhoba, Rajaka, is a scheduled caste in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing, ironing, and agricultural labour.
In 2017, Supreme Court of India noted calling people dhobi was offensive.
Synonyms
Maharastra
In Maharashtra, the Dhobi are found throughout the state, and are also known as Parit. They speak Marathi among themselves, and Hindi with outsiders.
Tamil Nadu
Vannar belongs to the Valangai ("Right-hand caste faction"). Some of The Valangai comprised castes with an agricultural basis while the Idangai consisted of castes involved in manufacturing, Valangai, which was better organised politically
were Identified"|400px||-Right hand history}}
In the Tirunelveli region, Thai deities (female deities) are worshipped in large numbers and are worshiped with a pedestal or trident. in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Vannars are still the priests of the Mariamman temple
Demographics
::data[format=table]
| State/Territory | Known as | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Rajaka | title=National Commission for Backward Classes | url=http://ncbc.nic.in/Home.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fPdf%2fandhrapradesh.pdf |
| Assam | Dhupi | In 2001, Assam's Dhupi population was at 49,929, accounting for 2.7% of the total Scheduled Class (SC) population. A high of 27.9% of this population was urban. The literacy rate among this group was 76%, above both the state figure (66.8%) and the aggregated national figure (54.7%) for SCs. | SC |
| Bihar | Dhobi, Rajak | According to jangana 2023 Dhobi community in Bihar makes up around 0.84% (11 lakh) Hindu Dhobi, 0.31% (4 lakh) Muslim Dhobi (Qassar) of the state's total population, with maximum concentration in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Siwan, Purnia and East Champaran districts, respectively. Bihar's Dhobi community is included in Scheduled Caste from OBC Status due to socioeconomically low. Now, they are in all sectors, but mainly as government employers, doctors, IT engineers, social service, agriculture, farming and politicians. Among the numerically larger castes of SC, Dhobi have registered the highest overall literacy rate. | SC |
| Jharkhand | SC | ||
| Madhya Pradesh | In Madhya Pradesh, Dhobi are a Scheduled Class in the districts of Bhopal, Raisen, and Sehore. | SC and OBC elsewhere | |
| Manipur | Dhupi | SC | |
| Meghalaya | Dhupi | SC | |
| Mizoram | Dhupi | SC | |
| Odisha | Dhoba, Dhobi, Rajak, Rajaka | Odisha has a significant population of Dhobi people in its coastal belt, i.e. eastern Odisha (Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Ganjam) and a smaller population in its central and western areas. They are included in Scheduled Caste list of Odisha. | SC |
| Rajasthan | SC | ||
| Tripura | Dhoba | SC | |
| Uttar Pradesh | Diwakar, Rajak | The Dhobi population in the state has been classified as SC. | SC |
| Uttarakhand | SC | ||
| Delhi | SC | ||
| :: |
Dhobis in Nepal
The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Dhobi as a subgroup within the broader social group of Madheshi Dalits. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 109,079 people (0.4% of the population of Nepal) were Dhobi. The frequency of Dhobis by province was as follows:
- Madhesh Province (1.2%)
- Lumbini Province (0.9%)
- Bagmati Province (0.0%)
- Gandaki Province (0.0%)
- Koshi Province (0.0%)
- Karnali Province (0.0%)
- Sudurpashchim Province (0.0%)
The frequency of Dhobis was higher than national average (0.4%) in the following districts:
- Kapilvastu (2.1%)
- Rautahat (2.0%)
- Rupandehi (2.0%)
- Parasi (1.7%)
- Parsa (1.4%)
- Sarlahi (1.3%)
- Bara (1.2%)
- Banke (1.1%)
- Mahottari (1.0%)
- Saptari (0.9%)
- Siraha (0.9%)
- Dhanusha (0.8%)
Notable people
Main article: List of Dhobis
- Ram Chander, recipient of Mahavir Chakra during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
- Chintamoni Dhoba, ruler of Dhalbhum region and established capital at Ambikanagar
- Gadge Maharaj, Marathi Hindu saint
- Suryabanshi Suraj, Indian politician
References
References
- (6 April 2021). "Owning Land, Being Women Inheritance and Subjecthood in India". Bibiliographic publication.
- (1984). "The politics of poverty". Ashish Publication.
- (2009). "State of Justice in India". Sage publication.
- Channa, Subhadra Mitra. 1991. "Caste, 'Jati' and {{Sic. Enthnicity—Some Reflections Based on a Case Study of the Dhobis." ''Indian Anthropologist'' 21(2):39-55. {{JSTOR. 41919653.
- "Calling People 'Harijan' or 'Dhobi' Is Offensive: Supreme Court".
- (7 March 2007). "The Social and the Symbolic". SAGE Publication.
- (4 October 1991). "Ān̲antaraṅkar nāṭkur̲ippu: āyvu". Tamil̲iyal Tur̲ai, Putuvaip Palkalaik Kal̲akam.
- (1995). "Right hand history". Department of Archeology.
- (2006). "Spiritual repository". Sura Publication.
- (1986). "Worship of idols in Tirunelveli". Thirumagal Publication.
- [http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/Compendium-2016.pdf Compendium 2016] socialjustice.nic.in
- "National Commission for Backward Classes".
- "[https://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_assam.pdf Assam – Data Highlights: The Scheduled Castes]." ''2001 Census of India''. 2001.
- "Census data".
- "Indian Kanoon".
- "central list of OBCs Uttar Pradesh". National Commission for Backward Classes, India.
- [https://nepal.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Population%20Monograph%20V02.pdf Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II]
- "2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::