dhobi

Dhobi is a term used in the Indian subcontinent for a washerman or washerwoman and, more broadly, for the traditional occupational community associated with laundry work. The word derives from the verb to wash in the local languages, and the dhobi is commonly identified by the recurring family or community role in providing manual laundry services. Historically, dhobis washed clothes for households, merchants, hotels, and, at times, royal establishments, with work often organized within kinship groups or castelike social networks.

A notable feature of the dhobi tradition is the dhobi ghats—open-air laundry yards where clothes are washed, rinsed, beaten on stones or boards, and dried in the open air. These facilities are found in several cities across South Asia, with Mumbai’s Dhobi Ghat being the best-known example. Such sites typically host a large workforce of washers working in arranged pens or stations and processing substantial volumes of laundry daily, sometimes for urban centers, institutions, and hotels.

In modern times, the dhobi profession has experienced changes due to urban development, mechanization, and competition from commercial laundries. In many places, dhobis continue to operate traditional laundries or mobile washing services and may be organized into associations. The term dhobi is also used as a surname in parts of South Asia. The concept encompasses both a social-occupational identity and a cultural reference in literature and media.