Note 10 — Darzi

Like the weaver, the Darzi is of a somewhat religious turn of mind, probably on account of his sedentary calling which gives him plenty of time for reflection. Many of them belong to the Nāmdeo sect, originated by a Chhīpa or dyer, Nāmdeo Sādhu. Nāmdeo is said to have been a contemporary of Kabīr and to have flourished in the twelfth or thirteenth century. He was a great worshipper of the god Vithoba of Pandharpur and is considered by the Marāthas to be their oldest writer, being the author of many Abhangs, or sacred hymns.10 He preached the unity of God, recognising apparently Vithoba or Vishnu as the one deity, and the uselessness of ceremonial. His followers are mainly Dhobis and Chhīpas, the two principal castes from whom the Darzis have originated.11 Nāmdeo’s sect was thus apparently a protest on the part of the Chhīpas and Dhobis against their inferior position in the caste system and the tyranny of the Brāhmans, and resembled the spiritual revolt of the weavers under Kabīr and of the Chamārs under Ghāsi Dās and Jagjīwan Dās.