Bania (caste)

The Hindi term baniyā is derived from Sanskrit vaṇija ("trader"), whereas the Marwari bā̃ṇyõ and Gujarati vāṇiyo are derived from Sanskrit vāṇija ("trader").{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Ralph Lilley |title=A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1962–1985 |pages=655, 670}} The community is also known by the term "vanik".{{Sfn|Hardiman|1996|p=62}}

In Bengal the term Bania is a functional catch-all for moneylenders, indigenously developed bankers, readers of grocery items and spices, irrespective of caste.{{cite book|last=Schrader|first=Heiko|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rf7nIIz8ikC&pg=PA68|title=Changing financial landscapes in India and Indonesia: sociological aspects of monetization and market integration|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=1997|isbn=978-3-8258-2641-3|page=68}} In Maharashtra, the term vani is used for trader/usurers who tended to rather be Kunbis by caste. Europeans used the term banyan loosely to mean "trader", whether regardless if the individual was a member of the Baniya caste or simply a trader who could be a Brahmin, Muslim, or Parsi.{{Sfn|Hardiman|1996|p=63}}

File:Codice Casanatense Gujarati Merchant.jpg

The community is composed of several sub-castes including the Agarwal, Khandelwal, Maheshwari, Oswal, Porwad and Shrimali Baniyas, among others.{{cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |title=Dictionary of American Family Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7MZ9J6dAgC&q=bania |date=8 May 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977169-1 |pages=xcvi, 103 |quote=The Banias of northern India are really a cluster of several communities, of which the Agarwal Banias, Oswal Banias, and Porwal Banias are mentioned separately in connection with certain surnames}}{{cite book |last1=Pradesh (India) |first1=Madhya |last2=Krishnan |first2=V. S. |title=Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers: Supplement |date=1971 |publisher=Government Central Press |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hygLAQAAIAAJ&q=Maheshwari+banias |quote=}}{{Cite book |last=Kotani |first=Hiroyuki |title=The Making of History: Essays Presented to Irfan Habib |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2002 |editor-last=Panikkar |editor-first=K.N. |pages=196 |chapter=Rural and Urban Caste Structure in Eighteenth-Nineteenth Century India: The Deccan and Gujarat |editor-last2=Byres |editor-first2=Terence J. |editor-last3=Patnaik |editor-first3=Utsa}}{{Cite book |last=Shah |first=A.M. |title=The Family in India: Critical Essays |publisher=Orient Longman |year=1998 |pages=136 |quote=For example, just as there were Modh Vanias, there were Modh Brahmins, and similarly Khadayata Vanias and Khadayata Brahmins, Shrimali Vanias and Shrimali Brahmins, Nagar Vanias and Nagar Brahmins, and so on.}} Traditionally (dating to at least the 15th century), the Gujarati Baniyas had 84 divisions (as did Gujarati Brahmins), although many were simply formulaic. Subcastes are also divided into Visa and Dasa divisions, which are also centuries old, and prohibit intermarriage.{{Sfn|Hardiman|1996|p=63}}

The Baniyas as a caste are either Jains or Hindus (mostly Vaishnava of the Vallabha sampradaya), and are native inhabitants of Gujarat and Rajasthan. In Rajasthan in particular, higher status Baniyas preferred to call themselves mahajans. Outside of Rajasthani, those Baniyas were known as "Marwaris" although technically a Marwari could be of any caste. The Gujarati and Rajasthani Baniyas have served as the prototypical Indian merchant, resulting in other non-Baniya mercantile communities sometimes also being called Baniyas. Scholars have noted that Baniyas however have certain cultural traits that distinguish them from other traders, such as nonviolence/pacifism. Lohanas and Bhatias of Saurashtra and Sindh (who are also mercantile and Pushtimarga Vaishnavas) although sometimes called baniyas are sharply distinguished from the Baniya caste due to their martial ethos. Daudi Bohras whose business practicies are nearly identical to Baniyas and who consider Diwali as the start of the financial year are not considered part of the Baniya caste due to their nonvegetarianism, beards, and clothing traditions.{{Sfn|Hardiman|1996|p=63-67}}{{Cite book |last=Tambs-Lyche |first=Harold |title=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online |publisher=Brill |editor-last=Jacobsen |editor-first=Knut A. |chapter=Trade and Merchants |editor-last2=Basu |editor-first2=Helene |editor-last3=Malinar |editor-first3=Angelika |editor-last4=Narayanan |editor-first4=Vasudha}}{{cite book |author1=Rajeev Bhargava |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ps65AAAAIAAJ |title=Multiculturalism, Liberalism, and Democracy |author2=Amiya Kumar Bagchi |author3=R. Sudarshan |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-564824-9 |page=228 |quote=Most of the Hindu banias of Gujarat in the nineteenth century were followers of Vallabhcharya of the Vaishnava sect; the rest were Jains or Shravaks.}}

It is hypothesized by historians that the Vaishnav Vaniyas of Gujarat are the descendants of the now-extinct Buddhist merchants who were formerly present in the region.

Banias are composed of caste in the mercantile and business fields, which have delineated the Baniya identity.{{Sfn|Hardiman|1996|p=63-67}} The term baniya has historically been applied to various mercantile communities who belong to diverse castes.

File:Banians of Surat, Gogo, and Ahmedabad.jpg.|273x273px]]

File:KITLV 87170 - William Johnson - Bania women in British India - Before 1860.jpeg. Image taken before 1860.|248x248px]]

Baniyas are vegetarians, and some groups have greater restrictions on the foods that can be consumed. They also take care not to kill insects when preparing and eating food.{{Cite book |last=Hardiman |first=David |title=Feeding the Baniya: Peasants and Usurers in Western India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |pages=62–92}}

Baniyas were known to be hard working and frugal. Only minimum expenses would be made on clothing, food, and furniture.

During the day, Baniya boys were sent to schools called patshalas where they would learn business skills and habits. They learned how to read and write, as well as in secret merchant scripts that were hidden from non-Baniyas. They also learned ciphers, accounting, and arithmetic. The correctness of mathematical calculations was extremely important to Baniyas, and they learnt various methods and tricks so they could perform advanced mental arithmetic. A mercantile ethos was also instilled in the boys, as they learned the chief aim of life was to acquire wealth and only profitable transactions were worthwhile. After school hours, boys would spend time in the family shop and learn the business. After education was complete boys would try to start their own businesses and if successful, would be allowed to manage the family business.

When Baniyas made transactions, they often had dubious qualities that allowed the accumulation of many small profits. These include short-weighing, adulteration of products, and regular undervaluation of a debt repayments. They were also known for being well-spoken and not confrontational. They were very secretive about their business accounts, and would use secret scripts or illegible handwriting. Often two sets of account books were kept, one for showing officials if needed, and one only for family. Business dealings were kept within the family, and in cases of dispute other Baniyas would arbitrate in order to keep business deals secret from non-Baniyas. Their preference for compromises instead of confrontations often led non-Baniyas to think of them as cowardly.

In order to prepare for further business success, Baniyas also had to have high levels of information access. They had messengers, intelligence networks, and postal services in order to make sure that they knew about any important knowledge as early as possible. Such information was often used in speculation in futures exchanges, which in turn sometimes turned into gambling.

File:Baniyas of Delhi.jpg

Honour was very important to Baniyas, which they called abru. Their honour was tied to their credit worthiness, which were valued higher than their lives. A bankrupt Baniya was stigmatised, and those who were caught to be dishonest with another Baniya were boycotted, bankrupted, and stigmatised. Honour was also tied to socioreligious conduct, as maintaining marital relations within the community, having a strong patriarch, and adherence to religious principles were all highly valued.

Wealthy Baniyas only spent large sums of money for specific purposes: hosting feasts, buying jewellery (mainly for women), construction of havelis, and the most honourable being donating to religious causes such as temples or religious festivals. Such displays of wealth allowed Baniyas to show their status and high honour.

Baniyas historically are very religious, with the Jain and Hindu Vaishnavs' beliefs, rituals, prayers, and ceremonies being often very similar. Pushtimarg Vaishnavs would perform emotional seva to Krishna, and Jains would be austere and follow the Jain vows. Lakshmi Puja was performed by Baniyas, for Lakshmi to bestow wealth and welfare on the family.

According to Basu, the culture of Gujarati Baniyas is viewed ambivalently by outsiders, stating "on the one hand, it is associated negatively with usury and commercial calculation, and on the other, it carries positive connotations of Jaina and Vaiṣṇava religious traditions that place special emphasis upon values of vegetarianism, nonviolence ( ahiṃsā ), and purity".

They are described as belonging to the Vaishya varna.Citations mentioning vaishya caste:

• {{Cite book |author=Lawrence A. Babb |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsJKNbszQ7MC&pg=PA15 |title=The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1975 |isbn=9780231038829 |page=15 |quote=The term Bania is used generally for mercantile castes in North and Central India, and these castes are accorded Vaishya status in the varna system.}}
• {{Cite book |author=Irawati Karve |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w58iAQAAMAAJ |title=Kinship Organization in India |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |year=1990 |isbn=9788121505048 |page=7 |quote=Vaishya generally go by various names : Vaishya, Bania, Vani, Sethi and Shetti.}}
• {{Cite book |author=Luis Cabrera |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssHADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |title=The Humble Cosmopolitan: Rights, Diversity, and Trans-state Democracy |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-19-086950-2 |page=27 |quote=Baniya, also written as bania, is a merchant caste or community within the Vaishya occupational varna.}}
• {{Cite book |author=Clara Neary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSa0EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |title=Gandhi's Autobiographical Construction of Selfhood: The Story of His Experiments with Truth |publisher=Springer International Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=9783031227868 |page=87 |quote=The Bania is a sub-caste (or jati) of the Vaishya caste (or varna). Vaishyas are tradition-ally the merchant class and are placed third in the hierarchical ordering of the four varnas of traditional Hinduism.}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rczUAAAAMAAJ |title=Census of India, 1961 Volume 19, Issue 6, Part 6 |publisher=Office of the Registrar General, India |year=1964 |page=9 |quote=Baniya The Baniyas who belong to Vaishya Varna carry on trade in the village . They also do money - lending business . In fact it is the only community in the village which is following its traditional occupation.}}

{{main|List of Baniyas}}

• Thakkar Pheru (early 14th century) (Shrimali), treasurer, mint director, and numismatics author in the court of Alauddin Khalji{{Cite book |last=Sheikh |first=Samira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APUtDwAAQBAJ&dq=%C5%9Br%C4%ABm%C4%81l%C4%AB&pg=PT204 |title=Forging a Region: Sultans, Traders, and Pilgrims in Gujarat, 1200–1500 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-908879-9 }}
• Jhaveri family (Oswal){{sfn|Sheth|2024|p=6}}
• Shantidas Jhaveri (1584–1659), Indian jeweller, bullion trader, and moneylender{{Cite book |last=Sheth |first=Sudev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tfbEAAAQBAJ |title=Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2024 |isbn=9781009330268 |pages=6, 296}}
• Khushalchand Jhaveri (1680–1748), Indian jeweller and financier{{sfn|Sheth|2024|p=6}}
• Lalbhai Dalpatbhai (1863-1912), Gujarati industrialist
• Jagat Seth family (Oswal), merchant, banker and money lender family in Bengal{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Aniruddha |title=Towns and Cities of Medieval India |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |pages=508}}{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Tirthankar |title=A Business History of India: Enterprise and the Emergence of Capitalism from 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2018 |pages=48}}
• Girdhar (1787–1852) (Lad), Gujarati poet{{Cite book |last1=Sāṭhe |first1=Gajānana Narasiṁha |title=गिरधर-कृत रामायण |last2=Bhaṭṭa |first2=Dīneśa Harilāla |publisher=Vāṇī Presa |pages=17–18 |language=hi |script-title=hi:Giradhara-Kr̥ta Rāmāyaṇa}}
• Family of Mahatma Gandhi (Modh){{Cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XS7UAAAAQBAJ&q=%22the+subcaste+the+Gandhis+belonged+to+was+known+as+Modh+Bania,+the+prefix%22&pg=PP42 |title=Gandhi before India |date=15 October 2014 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-93-5118-322-8 |pages=42 |language=en |quote=The subcaste the Gandhis belonged to was known as Modh Bania, the prefix apparently referring to the town of Modhera, in Southern Gujarat}}{{refn|The Gandhis were expelled from their caste when Mahatma Gandhi crossed the seas.{{cite book |title=Gandhi, Nehru and Modern India |first=Elizabeth Mauchline |last=Roberts |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2019|isbn=978-1-000-63959-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=De2oDwAAQBAJ&dq=crossing+the+seas+india+%22expelled%22+%22caste%22&pg=PT15}}|group=note}}{{Cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arDvngEACAAJ |title=Gandhi Before India |date=2014 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-385-53229-7 |pages=42 |language=en}}
• Premchand Roychand (1832–1906) (Oswal), 19th century Indian businessman and founder of Bombay Stock Exchange.{{cite book |last1=Subramanian |first1=Lakshmi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUhvd13OoEwC&dq=Premchand+Roychand+bania&pg=PT51 |title=Three Merchants of Bombay |date=15 January 2016 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9788184757217}}
• Karsandas Mulji (1832-1871) (Kapol), Gujarati writer and social reformer{{Cite book |last=Prasad |first=Bibeshwar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlTRAAAAMAAJ&q=hargovindas%20kantawala |title=Ideas in history; proceedings. |publisher=Asia Publishing House |year=1968 |pages=124|isbn=9780210268643 }}{{refn|Karsandas Mulji was expelled from his caste for travelling to England in 1862, and he never attempted to rejoin.{{cite book |last1= Yagnik|first1= Achyut|last2 = Sheth|first2= Suchitra|author-link= |date= 2005|title= The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond|url= |location= |publisher= Penguin Books|page= 79|isbn=}}|group=note}}{{cite thesis |last=Saha|first=Shandip|date=2004|title=Creating a Community of Grace: A History of the Puṣṭi Mārga in Northern and Western India (1493-1905)|url= |type= |chapter= |publisher=University of Ottawa|page= 274}}
• Mangaldas Nathubhai (1832-1890) (Kapol), Gujarati merchant in Bombay{{Cite book |last=Desai |first=Neera |title=Social Change in Gujarat: A Study of Nineteenth Century Gujarati Society |publisher=Vora & Co. |year=1978 |pages=442}}
• Hargovinddas Kantawala (1844-1930), Gujarati writer
• Birla family (Maheshwari), a prominent Business and Industrialist family.{{cite book|title=The concise Oxford history of Indian business|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9LsAAAAMAAJ|author1=Dwijendra Tripathi|author2=Jyoti Jumani|year=2007|page=88|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-568429-2 |quote=One of them was Ghanshyamdas Birla, whose family symbolized more than any other Marwari, the transition of the community from trade to industry . Maheshwari Bania by caste, the Birlas originated from Pilani in the Shekhavati region of Rajasthan, which had been the original homeland of Marwari migrants.}}{{refn|The Birlas were expelled from their caste in 1922 when Rameshwar Das Birla married a Kolvar woman.{{cite book |title=Ashes of Immortality: Widow-Burning in India |first=Catherine |last=Weinberger-Thomas |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-22688-568-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ashesofimmortali0000wein/page/177 177] |url=https://archive.org/details/ashesofimmortali0000wein |url-access=registration |edition=Translated |orig-year=1996}}|group=note}}
• Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1912) (Agarwal), Indian independence activist.{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Dohra |title=Landscapes of Hope: Anti-Colonial Utopianism in America |date=2 March 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971569-5 |page=221 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFy87zNb5QYC&dq=Lala+Lajpat+Rai+bania&pg=PA221 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Burra |first1=Neera |title=A Memoir of Pre-Partition Punjab: Ruchi Ram Sahni, 1863–1948 |date=15 February 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-909130-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z59MDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Bhargar |first=Vanya Vaidehi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfb4EAAAQBAJ&dq=Lala+Lajpat+Rai+agarwal&pg=PT34 |title=Being Hindu, Being Indian: Lala Lajpat Rai's Ideas of Nationhood |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2024|isbn=978-93-5708-583-0 }}
• Krishnalal Jhaveri (1868-1957), Indian scholar and judge{{Sfn|Desai|1978|p=446}}
• Seth Hukumchand (1874-1959), Indian industrialist{{Cite book |last=Markovits |first=Claude |title=Indian Business and Nationalist Politics 1931-1939: The indigenous capitalist class and the rise of the Congress Party |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1985 |pages=32}}
• Walchand Hirachand (1882-1953), Indian industrialist and founder of Walchand group{{Cite book |last=Schrader |first=Heiko |title=Changing Financial Landscapes in India and Indonesia |publisher=Lit |year=1997 |pages=130}}{{Cite book |last=Damodaran |first=Harish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GG58DwAAQBAJ&dq=Walchand+Hirachand+baniya&pg=PT220 |title=India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation |publisher=Hachette |year=2018|isbn=978-93-5195-280-0 }}
• Maithili Sharan Gupt (1886-1964), Hindi poet.{{cite book |last1=Sunītā |first1=Ela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZRjAAAAMAAJ&q=Maithili+Sharan+Gupt+gahoi |title=Maithilīśaraṇa Gupta kā kāvya: Saṃskr̥ta srota ke sandarbha meṃ |date=1984 |publisher=Hindī Vibhāga, Kocina Viśvavidyālaya |page=20 |language=hi}}
• Sarabhai family (Dasa Shrimali), a prominent Business family.{{cite book|title=Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ba7AAAAIAAJ|page=44|year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-562806-7 |quote=The Sarabhais and the Lalbhais, the town's two most prominent entrepreneurial families, were Jain Banias prominent as shroffs.}}{{Cite book |last=Shah |first=Amrita |title=Vikram Sarabhai: A Life |publisher=Penguin Limited |pages=4}}
• Ram Manohar Lohia (1910-1967), Indian independence activist.{{cite book |last1=Somanaboina |first1=Simhadri |last2=Ramagoud |first2=Akhileshwari |title=The Routledge Handbook of the Other Backward Classes in India: Thought, Movements and Development |date=15 November 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-46280-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5tIEAAAQBAJ&dq=Ram+Manohar+Lohia+bania&pg=PT176 |language=en}}
• Dalmia and Sahu Jain families, industrialist families{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Stephanie |title=Merchants of the Raj: British Managing Agency Houses in Calcutta Yesterday and Today |publisher=Macmillan Press |year=1992 |pages=411}}
• Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002), 20th century Indian businessman.{{cite book |last1=Rowley |first1=Chris |last2=Rama |first2=Marie dela |title=The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges |date=3 May 2017 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-101230-7 |page=210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IM91DQAAQBAJ&dq=Dhirubhai+Ambani+bania+caste&pg=PA210 |language=en}}
• Amit Shah (1964–present), Indian politician.{{cite book |last1=Rathore |first1=Aakash Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16vDDwAAQBAJ&dq=Amit+Shah+baniya&pg=PT126 |title=Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives |last2=Nandy |first2=Ashis |date=18 December 2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5305-722-0 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Venugopal |first1=Vasudha |last2=Nag |first2=Jayatri |date=22 March 2021 |title=West Bengal polls: BJP manifesto promises women safety, jobs, free transport, health care |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/west-bengal/mission-bengal-bjp-releases-sankalp-patra-promises-sonar-bangla/articleshow/81616578.cms?from=mdr |access-date=23 July 2023 |issn=0013-0389}}
• Arvind Kejriwal (1968–present), Indian politician and current Chief Minister of Delhi.{{cite news |title=Kejriwal makes common cause with traders: I'm Baniya too |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/kejriwal-makes-common-cause-with-traders-im-baniya-too/ |access-date=15 June 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=29 March 2014 |quote=I come from a Baniya family. Most of my relatives are businessmen. I know that it is not easy to do business in this country.}}
• Brij Behari Prasad, former Science and Technology minister in Lalu Prasad Yadav's cabinet.{{cite magazine |last1=Gupta |first1=Smita |last2=PTI |date=15 October 2007 |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/pinned-lynch/235751 |title=Pinned Lynch |magazine=Outlook |access-date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924132556/https://www.outlookindia.com/article/pinned-lynch/235751 |archive-date=24 September 2015}}

• Vaishya

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal |title= 'The Omnipresent Bania:' Rural Moneylenders in Nineteenth-Century Sind |first=David |last=Cheesman |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=16 |issue=3 |year=1982 |pages=445–462 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00015262 |jstor=312116|s2cid=145722413 | issn = 0026-749X }}
• {{cite journal |title=The British and the Moneylender in Nineteenth-Century India |first=Thomas R. |last=Metcalf |author-link=Thomas R. Metcalf |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=34 |issue=4 |date=December 1962 |pages=390–397 |doi=10.1086/239182 |jstor=1880056|s2cid=145246030 }}

Category:Indian castes

Category:Vaishya community