_Chhipa, Rangari, Bhaosar, Nirali, Nilgar._--The Hindu caste of cotton
printers and dyers. They are commonly known as Chhipa in the northern
Districts and Rangari or Bhaosar in the Maratha country. The Chhipas
and Rangaris together number about 23,000 persons. In the south of
the Central Provinces and Berar 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
Chhipas and Rangaris 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. Nilgar or Nirali is a purely occupational term
applied to Chhipas or Rangaris who work in indigo (_nil_); while
Bhaosar is another name for the Rangaris in the northern Districts.