doottari

Doottari is a term used in several South Asian languages to refer to a courier system or the office and people involved in delivering messages and small parcels. The word is related to doot, meaning messenger, and denotes the network or routine of message delivery rather than a single person or event.

Historically, doottari describes arrangements in which messengers carried letters, orders, and other communications between villages, towns, courts, revenue offices, merchants, and other institutions. Messengers might travel on foot, by horse, or by other means, and the system often valued speed, reliability, and security. In some areas, the role could be part of a formal office or service, sometimes linked to local authorities, landlords, or trading networks.

Organization and duties varied regionally. Some communities treated doottaris as a recognized social or occupational group with defined duties, privileges, and duties of accountability. Appointments could be hereditary in certain lineages or earned through service. In addition to delivering messages, doottaris might convey official notices, collect or deliver payments, and sometimes relay information that required confidentiality or speed.

In modern times, doottari is mainly encountered in historical, literary, or genealogical contexts. The term may appear in descriptions of pre-modern administration or in discussions of traditional communication networks, and in some cases it appears as a surname or place-derived name in certain regions.

See also: courier, postal system, doot.