Bhavsar

Bhavsar

The Bhavasar (Gujarati: ભાવસાર, Hindi: भावसार), are an ethnic group in India, traditionally associated with woodblock printing on textiles and tailoring. They are mostly located in the regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan while some are also located in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Gujarati and Rajasthani Bhavsars refer to themselves as just Bhavsars, while in Maharashtra the community has bifurcated further and they refer to themselves variously as, 'Bhavsar Kshathriya', 'Bhavsar Shimpi', 'Nāmdev Shimpi'. Nāmdev Shimpis are considered a distinct group, although they bifurcated from the Maharashtrian Bhavsars, as they are followers of Sant Nāmdev - however they use the same surnames as Maharashtrian Bhavsars. 'Bhavsar' or Bhāvasār could also be the surname of some of the people of this ethnic group. According to the specific profession, Bhavsars are further divided into Rangāreys who were traditionally involved with woodblock printing on textiles and Shimpis/Darzis, who were traditionally involved in tailoring.