From the archive record
Bhishti supplying water in areas around Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi The Bhishti are a Muslim community or biradari found in North India, Pakistan and the Terai region of Nepal. They are also known as Shaikh Dhund Abbasi and Saqqa, and use Abbasi, or Dhund-Abbasi, as a surname. In Maharashtra, the community is often referred to as Pakhali. The title character of Rudyard Kipling's poem "Gunga Din" is a Bhisti. The Bhishti are the traditional water carriers of South Asia, and the word Bhishti is derived from the Persian word behesht, meaning paradise, and the name is said to have been given to the community on account of their ministering to Muslim soldiers at a battle. They were historically the suppliers of water from a goat-skin bag known as the mashk or mashq. In Gujarat, the Bhishti claim t