The Dhobas act as priests of the Gonds and are also cultivators. Their
social position is distinctly higher than that of the Gonds and some
of them have begun to employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They
will eat the flesh of most animals, except those of the cow-tribe,
and also field-mice, and most of them drink liquor, though the more
prominent members have begun to abstain. The origin of the caste is
very obscure, but it would appear that they must be an offshoot of
one of the Dravidian tribes. In this connection it is interesting
to note that Chhattisgarh contains a large number of Dhobis, though
the people of this tract have until recently worn little in the way
of clothing, and usually wash it themselves when this operation is
judged necessary. Many of the Dhobis of Chhattisgarh are cultivators,
and it seems possible that a proportion of them may also really belong
to this Dhoba caste.