1 320 PANJAB CASTES.
2 640. The Churigar (Caste No. 139).— The ChunVar, or as he is
3 called in the west Bangera or Wangrigar, is the maker of bracelets,
4 generally of glass or lac. He is also sometimes called Kachera or glass-
5 worker. In the east of the Province <he Maniar sells these bracelets, but in
6 the west he is a general pedlar ; and I understand that there the Bangera sells
7 as well as makes bracelets. It is also said that the term Chiirigar is extended
8 to men who make bracelets of bell-metal, or of almost any material except
9 silver or gold. The word appears to l^e merely the name of an occupation, and
10 it is probable that many of these brncelet-makers have returned their true
11 caste.^ It may be too that in the east of the Pro^^nee the distinction Ijetween
12 Churigar and Maniar has not always been observed.
13 WASHERMEN, DYERS, AND TAILORS.
14 641. Washermen, Dyers, and Tailors.— The next group I shall dis-
15 cuss is that of the washermen, dyers, calico printers, and tailors. In it [P. 332]
16 I have included the Dhobi, the Chhimba, the Rangrez, the Lilari. and the
17 Charhoa, and the figures for these castes will be found in Abstract No. 104
18 below.* But the group is a curiously confused one ; and I regret to say that •?. 322-
19 the confusion has extended to our tables. The terms, at any rate in the 23
20 west of the Panjab, denote occupations rather than true castes ; and the line
21 of distinction between the various occupations is not only vague, but varies
22 greatly from one part of the Province to another. thcLilari doing in some
23 parts what the Chhimba does in others, and the Charhoa combinino' the
24 occupations of the whole group in the Multan and Derajat divisions ; while
25 the Darzi is often a Chhimba and the Chhimba a Darzi. Thus it is impossi-
26 ble to say that these terms denote 'separate castes, though the caste to which
27 the group belongs, of which the Dhobi in the east and the Charhoa in
28 the west may be taken as types, is a very distinct one. At the same time,
29 where the occupations are separate they are in the hands of separate trades-
30 guilds with separate rales and organisation, and it is probable that inter-
31 marriage is at any rate unusual. Like most occupational castes, those of
32 this group are less numerous on the frontier than elsewhere.
33 642. The Dhobi and Chhimba (Caste Nos. 32 and 33),— The Dhobi is [P. 333]
34 perhaps the most clearly defined and the one most nearly approaching a
35 true caste of all the castes of the group. He is found under that name
36 throughout the Panjab, but in the Derajat and JMultan divisions he is undis-
37 tinguishable from the Charhoa, and I regret to say that here the divisional
38 officers have included those who returned themselves as Dhobis under the
39 head of Charhoa. Some of the Charhoas seem also to have returned theni'
40 selves as Jats (see Abstract No. 72, page 224t). The Dhobi is the washerman tP. 106-
41 of the country. But with the work of washing he generally combines, ^^'^
42 especially in the centre and west of the Province, the craft of calico-printing ;
43 and in the Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions the Chhimba has been classed as
44 Dhobi, while in the Jalandhar division most of the Dhobis have been classed
45 as Chhimbas. In fact the two sets of figures must be taken together. The
46 Dhobi is also a true village menial in the sense that he receives a fixed share
47 of the produce in return for washing the clothes of the villages where he
48 performs that office. But he occupies this position only among the higher
49 castes of the land-owners, as among the Jats and castes of similar standing
50 the women generally wash the clothes of the family. The Dhobi is there-