Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Darzi

by Edgar Thurston

Darzi. — Darzi or Darjī is a Muhammadan occupational term, meaning tailor. "The east," it has been said,*^[1] " now sews by machinery. The name of Singer is known from the Mediterranean to the Pacific. In every bazaar in India one may see men — they are always men, not women — in turban or Mussalman cap, crouching over the needle-plate, and working the pedals." The value of the imports of sewing-machines rose, in British India, from Rs. 5,91,046 in 1901-02 to Rs. 10,06,625 in 1904-05.

1. * Sidney Law. A Vision of India, 1906.