Qalaigar

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This article is an extract from

THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. Ethnographic Glossary. CALCUTTA: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. .

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Qalaigar

Muhammadans are the only natives who use copper vessels requiring tinning, the Hindus using either iron, brass, stone, or earthern cooking vessels. The furbishing trade is a busy one, there being at least twenty-five families in Dacca living by it.

The Qala'igar prepares at his home a paste consisting of sal ammoniac boiled in water, in the proportion of one part to three. The copper vessel being first scoured with Jhama, or burnt brick, the paste is applied with a scrap of cotton, while with a heated iron the tin (qala'i) is coated over the inside and again rubbed with the paste.

Villagers usually bring their vessels with them to the city, but in the cold season the Qala'igar makes a circuit through the interior, finding plenty of work.