Mashk

{{Short description|Traditional water-carrying bag from North India, Pakistan and Nepal}}

{{for multi|the Arabic calligraphic form|Mashq|the village in Iran|Mashk, Iran}}

A mashk or mashq (Hindi: मश्क, Urdu: مَشْکَ; ISO: Maśka) is a traditional water-carrying bag, usually made of waterproofed goat-skin, from North India, Pakistan and Nepal.{{Citation | title=Beast and man in India: a popular sketch of Indian animals in their relations with the people | author=John Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling | year=1891 | publisher=Macmillan and Co., 1891 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPPaAAAAMAAJ | quote=... When filled with water merely, the goat-skin or "mashk" is a characteristic object ...}}

Mashqs can vary in size, from a hand-held bag, which was often used to carry liquids such as alcohol, to a large sized bag that comes with shoulder strap. They usually have only one narrowed opening. A person who is carrying a large mashk is called a māshqi (माश्की, ماشْکِی). Traditionally, in the northern part of the South Asia, the larger mashq was associated with the Bhishti (भिश्ती, بهِشْتِی) subcaste who were employed as water-carriers by all other sections of society and often seen dispensing water (for a fee) in public places, gardens and construction sites.{{Citation | title=Modern Colloquial Hindustani | author=J. I. Abdul Hakim | date=May 2005 | publisher=Kessinger Publishing, 2005 | isbn=978-1-4179-6144-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbqOkbAXWrwC | quote=... Water-Carrier - Bhishti ... ek mashk kitne ko ata hai ... Get the bhishti to pour some water ...}}

Since water came as a great relief to people and plants during the hot summer in the northern Indian plains, the term Bhishti derives from the Persian root word bahishti, meaning heavenly.{{Citation | title=The Times of India directory and year book including who's who, Volume 28 | year=1941 | publisher=Bennett and Coleman, 1941 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RakSAAAAIAAJ | quote=... Bhishti" Water-carrier, lit. "heavenly" or "man of heaven ...}}