Bhangi
/ˈbʌŋ.ɡi/noun
A term historically used in South Asia for members of communities traditionally assigned sanitation and waste-removal work, now often regarded as derogatory.
Did you know?The word’s origin is disputed: some scholars connect it with Sanskrit *bhaṅga*, “hemp” or “intoxicant,” while others relate it to a root meaning “to break” or “remove,” so confident mystical claims about its origin are misleading.
Etymological Timeline
Sanskrit period
Sanskrit
bhaṅga
“A breaking, fracture, or disruption; also hemp or an intoxicating preparation, depending on context.”
Medieval Indo-Aryan
Prakrit/Apabhraṃśa
bhaṅgī
“A form associated with the developing Indo-Aryan vocabulary; the precise social-title pathway remains uncertain.”
Medieval period
Hindi and related languages
bhaṅgī / bhangī
“A designation applied to sanitation and sweeping communities, with the word’s exact derivation debated by scholars.”
19th Century
Anglo-Indian English
Bhangi
“A colonial transliteration used in English administrative and ethnographic writing for a caste/community traditionally assigned manual scavenging and related labor.”
Modern English
English
Bhangi
“A historically specific South Asian caste label, generally considered offensive when used as an insult.”