The Qassar are a South Asian Muslim caste whose traditional occupation is washing clothes. They are considered to be Muslim converts from

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, where the ''

Dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers. They are a large community, ...

'' castes are launderers. They are found in North India and Pakistan. The community is also known as Charhoa and Gazar in Pakistan and Qassar in India. They also use "Hawari" as a surname.

Present circumstances

The Qassar caste is known as Muslim Dhobi. In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, they continue to depend on their traditional occupation of washing clothes. The more enterprising elements within the group have set up dry cleaning businesses. At present time Qassar caste does not involve in washing clothes. They started their own business. Many in rural areas are tenant farmers. The community are distributed throughout North India and South India, with concentrations in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. Also in south Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh they found. Although they live in multi-caste and multi-religious villages, they occupy distinct quarters in towns and villages. A Qassar settlement in often referred to as a ''Dhobighat''. Each of their settlement contains a traditional caste council, which resolves disputes within the community, and deals with issues such as elopement, theft and adultery. Like other Muslim artisan castes, they have set caste associations old association is ''All India Jamiatul Qassar'' since 1980 and other one is ''All India Jamiatul Hawareen'' which acts as a pressure group for the community.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1031 They are largely Sunni Muslim, and are fairly orthodox, although a small minority in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

are

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

. In

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

, the Qassar community are

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Khari Boli Kauravi ( hi, कौरवी, ur, ), also known as Khaṛībolī is a set of Western Hindi varieties of Shauraseni Prakrit mainly spoken in Northwestern Uttar Pradesh. Standard Hindi and Urdu are based on Khariboli, specifically on its De ...

and

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city ...

. In

, they have two sub-divisions, the Shehri and Agharia. The Sheri trace their origin to

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. T ...

, while the Agharia are originally from villages near

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

and

Hapur Hapur is a city in, as well as the headquarters of, Hapur district, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located about east of New Delhi, the city is part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). National Highway 9 passes through the city, connecting ...

. They live in the localities of Farash Khana, Jama Masjid, Chitli Qabar, Lal Darwaza and Sheesh Mahal, all in

. A large number of Delhi Qassar's emigrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, at the time of

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. After the independence of

, their traditional occupation has suffered. Traditionally, all clothes were delivered to the Qassar. This is no longer the case, and those Qassar still involved in their traditional are those who have started to pick work from hotels and hospitals. In

, the community is found throughout the state. They speak

Haryanvi Haryanvi ( ' or '), also known as Bangru, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the state of Haryana in India, and to a lesser extent in Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which also includes Kharib ...

, with educated members of the community speaking

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Sunni and

among the Qassar They are also further divided into clans, known as gotras, such as the Bhatti, Taga . The Qassar are strictly endogamous, and practice gotra exogamy. This practice is fairly common among the

Muslims. Their main occupation remains the washing of clothes, although increasingly many Qassar are now agricultural Labourers. The community has informal caste councils at village level Like other

Muslims, the community has been greatly reduced in numbers by migration to

at the time of the partition of India. In

, the Qassar claim to have immigrated from Maharashtra, and settled throughout

. They speak

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

and Kutchi, and are Sunni Muslim. The Qassar are strictly endogamous and marry close kins. Like other

Gujarati Muslim The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslims, Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities such as the Momin Ansari ...

s communities, they have their own caste association, the Dhobi Muslim Jamat. The Qassar are a landless community, with their traditional occupation remains washing and cleaning of clothes. A few successful Qassar have started their own businesses. The community are found mainly in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

, Ahmedabad,

Banaskantha Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-three districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters of the district is at Palanpur which is also its largest city. The district is located in the Northeast of Gujarat and is pre ...

and Kaira districts.

Dilliwal Shaikh

The Dilliwal Shaikh are a community of Qassar's, who are found in the cities of

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, Kanpur and

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

. They are said to have migrated from

some three centuries ago, and their name literally means someone from

. In

, they are found mainly in the neighbourhoods of Nalbandi Tola, Aghameel Deon, Billojpura, Gopalganj and Wazirganj. The Dilliwal are strictly endogamous, and do not intermarry with other Dhobi clans. They specialize in washing chikan cloth, a special type of fabric found in the

Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

region. Each of their settlement contains a caste council, that maintains social control, and resolves any intra community dispute. The Dilliwal speak

, and follow the Sunni sect of Islam.

In Pakistan

In Pakistan, the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Qassar are mainly a rural community. The Qassar are an artisan caste, receiving a fixed share of the agricultural produce for their services. The Gazar sub-division, found in southern Punjab, have taken to agriculture. The Gazar and Charhoa are Seraiki speaking, while the Qassar in central Punjab speak Punjabi.

References

{{Indian Muslim Social groups of Pakistan Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Indian castes Shaikh clans Muslim communities of India Punjabi tribes Saraiki tribes Social groups of Punjab, Pakistan Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh Social groups of Haryana Muslim communities of Gujarat Laundry occupations

Present circumstances

Dilliwal Shaikh

In Pakistan

See also

References