1. Constitution of the caste.
Chhīpa, Rangāri, Bhaosar, Nirāli, Nīlgar.—The Hindu caste of cotton printers and dyers. They are commonly known as Chhīpa in the northern Districts and Rangāri or Bhaosar in the Maratha country. The Chhīpas and Rangāris together number about 23,000 persons. In the south of the Central Provinces and Berār cotton is a staple crop, and the cotton-weaving industry is much stronger than in the north, and as a necessary consequence the dyers also would be more numerous. Though the Chhīpas and Rangāris do not intermarry or dine together, no essential distinction exists between them. They are both of functional origin, pursue exactly the same occupation, and relate the same story about themselves, and no good reason therefore exists for considering them as separate castes. Nīlgar or Nirāli is a purely occupational term applied to Chhīpas or Rangāris who work in indigo (nīl); while Bhaosar is another name for the Rangāris in the northern Districts.