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article restored to an old revision of this page, until- as edited by 122.177.208.17 (talk) at 20:42, 15 June 2023, due to vandalisation of page by user- Chariotrider555 by adding undebated and untrusthworthy information from apparently biased sources with a possible intention of maligning the community and to enforce and create stereotypes about an extremely large and diverse community.
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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2014}}
[[File:Banians of Surat, Gogo, and Ahmedabad.jpg|thumb|Bania men of Gujarat, [[British India]].]]
[[File:KITLV 87170 - William Johnson - Bania women in British India - Before 1860.jpeg|thumb|Bania women in [[British India]]. Image taken before 1860.]]__NOTOC__
The '''Bania''' (also spelled '''Baniya''', '''Banija''', '''Banya''', '''Vaniya''', '''Vani''', '''Vania''' and '''Vanya''')<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Douglas E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij4-7F4Pip4C&dq=vaniya+caste&pg=PA55 |title=Rhetoric and Ritual in Colonial India: The Shaping of a Public Culture in Surat City, 1852-1928 |date=1991-10-30 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06725-7 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Vaishya]] community found in the [[India]]n states of [[Gujarat]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[West Bengal]], as well as in other northern states.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fq9FEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT187|title=Genetically Modified Democracy: Transgenic Crops in Contemporary India|page=187|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2021|author=Aniketh Aga|isbn=9780300262582}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffery |first1=Roger |last2=Jeffrey |first2=Craig |last3=Lerche |first3=Jens |title=Development Failure and Identity Politics in Uttar Pradesh |date=31 March 2014 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |isbn=978-93-5150-428-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FclDAAAQBAJ&dq=bania+caste+in+uttar+pradesh&pg=PT74 |page=74}}</ref><ref name="Schrader1997"/><ref name="Hanks2003"/> Traditionally, the main occupations of the community are [[merchant]]s, [[banker]]s, [[money-lender]]s, and (in modern times) owners of [[commercial enterprise]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hardiman|first=David|date=1996|title=Usury, Dearth and Famine in Western India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/651058|journal=Past & Present|volume=152|issue=152|pages=113–156|doi=10.1093/past/152.1.113|jstor=651058|issn=0031-2746}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cheesman|first=David|date=1982|title='The Omnipresent Bania:' Rural Moneylenders in Nineteenth-Century Sind|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/312116|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=16|issue=3|pages=445–462|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00015262|jstor=312116|s2cid=145722413|issn=0026-749X}}</ref>
The '''Bania''' (also spelled '''Baniya''', '''Banija''', '''Banya''', '''Vaniya''', '''Vani''', '''Vania''' and '''Vanya''')<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Douglas E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij4-7F4Pip4C&dq=vaniya+caste&pg=PA55 |title=Rhetoric and Ritual in Colonial India: The Shaping of a Public Culture in Surat City, 1852-1928 |date=1991-10-30 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06725-7 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Vaishya]] community found in the [[India]]n states of [[Rajasthan]], [[Gujarat]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[West Bengal]], as well as in other northern states.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fq9FEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT187|title=Genetically Modified Democracy: Transgenic Crops in Contemporary India|page=187|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2021|author=Aniketh Aga|isbn=9780300262582}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jeffery |first1=Roger |last2=Jeffrey |first2=Craig |last3=Lerche |first3=Jens |title=Development Failure and Identity Politics in Uttar Pradesh |date=31 March 2014 |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |isbn=978-93-5150-428-3 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Development_Failure_and_Identity_Politic/2FclDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bania+caste+in+uttar+pradesh&pg=PT74&printsec=frontcover |page=74}}</ref><ref name="Schrader1997"/><ref name="Hanks2003"/> Traditionally, the main occupations of the community are [[merchant]]s, [[banker]]s, [[money-lender]]s, and (in modern times) owners of [[commercial enterprise]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hardiman|first=David|date=1996|title=Usury, Dearth and Famine in Western India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/651058|journal=Past & Present|volume=152|issue=152|pages=113–156|doi=10.1093/past/152.1.113|jstor=651058|issn=0031-2746}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cheesman|first=David|date=1982|title='The Omnipresent Bania:' Rural Moneylenders in Nineteenth-Century Sind|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/312116|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=16|issue=3|pages=445–462|doi=10.1017/S0026749X00015262|jstor=312116|s2cid=145722413|issn=0026-749X}}</ref>


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The name ''Bania'' derives from the Sanskrit word ''vanik'' meaning ''traders''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Habib|first=Irfan|author-link=Irfan Habib|editor1-link=James Tracy (historian) |editor-first=James D. |editor-last=Tracy |chapter=Merchant Communities in Precolonial India|title=The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=371–99 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511563089 |isbn=978-0-52145-735-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IHLaAAAAMAAJ|title= Reservation, Action for Social Equality|author=Ishwari Prasad
The name ''Bania'' derives from the Sanskrit word ''vanik'' meaning ''traders''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Habib|first=Irfan|author-link=Irfan Habib|editor1-link=James Tracy (historian) |editor-first=James D. |editor-last=Tracy |chapter=Merchant Communities in Precolonial India|title=The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=371–99 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511563089 |isbn=978-0-52145-735-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IHLaAAAAMAAJ|title= Reservation, Action for Social Equality|author=Ishwari Prasad
|publisher=Criterion Publications|year=1986|access-date=23 February 2021|quote=Here we are concerned only with upper backwards which have four castes; Yadav (11.0 per cent), Koeri (4.0 per cent), Kurmi (3.5 per cent) and Bania (0.6 per cent) .}}</ref> In [[Bengal]] the term ''Bania'' is a functional catch-all for moneylenders, indigenously developed bankers, readers of grocery items and spices, irrespective of caste.<ref name="Schrader1997">{{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}}</ref>
|publisher=Criterion Publications|year=1986|access-date=23 February 2021|quote=Here we are concerned only with upper backwards which have four castes; Yadav (11.0 per cent), Koeri (4.0 per cent), Kurmi (3.5 per cent) and Bania (0.6 per cent) .}}</ref> In [[Bengal]] the term ''Bania'' is a functional catch-all for moneylenders, indigenously developed bankers, readers of grocery items and spices, irrespective of caste.<ref name="Schrader1997">{{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}}</ref>
[[File:KITLV 87170 - William Johnson - Bania women in British India - Before 1860.jpeg|thumb|Bania women in [[British India]]. Image taken before 1860.]]__NOTOC__


==Society==
==Society==
The community is composed of several sub-castes including the [[Agarwal|Agarwal Banias]], [[Gupta|Gupta Banias]], [[Khandelwal Vaishya|Khandelwal Banias]], [[Maheshwari|Maheshwari Banias]], [[Oswal|Oswal Banias]], and [[Porwal|Porwal Banias]], among others.<ref name="Hanks2003">{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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=}}</ref> Most Banias follow [[Hinduism]] or [[Jainism]], but a few have converted to [[Sikhism]], [[Islam]], [[Christianity]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marenco |first1=Ethne K. |title=The Transformation of Sikh Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeseAAAAMAAJ|date=1974 |publisher=HaPi Press |page=151 |language=en |quote=The Banias were again predominantly Hindu, but there were many Jain Banias and also Sikh and Muslim Banias in lesser numbers, and very few Buddhist Banias. Such was the picture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=Stephen A. |title=India: An Anthropological Perspective |date=1986 |publisher=Waveland Press |isbn=978-0-88133-245-2 |page=186 |language=en |quote=Some, like the Khojah caste, are Bania groups converted to Islam by Muslim pirs (saints).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=John|first=Jose Kalapura|title=King, Fort, Zamindaris and Missionaries: The Founding of Bihar's Oldest Christian Community, 1745|date=2000|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148177|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=61|pages=1011–1028|jstor=44148177|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Most of Hindu Gujarati Banias are [[Vaishnava]]s and are followers of [[Vallabhacharya]] and [[Swaminarayan]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Multiculturalism, Liberalism, and Democracy|page=228|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ps65AAAAIAAJ|author1=Rajeev Bhargava|author2=Amiya Kumar Bagchi|author3=R. Sudarshan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-19-564824-9 |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.}}</ref>
The community is composed of several sub-castes including the [[Agarwal|Agarwal Banias]], [[Khandelwal Vaishya|Khandelwal Banias]], [[Maheshwari|Maheshwari Banias]], [[Oswal|Oswal Banias]], and [[Porwal|Porwal Banias]], among others.<ref name="Hanks2003">{{cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |title=Dictionary of American Family Names |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Dictionary_of_American_Family_Names/vG7MZ9J6dAgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bania&printsec=frontcover |date=8 May 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977169-1 |page=xcvi |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}}</ref><ref>{{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://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Madhya_Pradesh_District_Gazetteers_Suppl/hygLAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Maheshwari+banias&dq=Maheshwari+banias&printsec=frontcover |quote=}}</ref> Most Banias follow [[Hinduism]] or [[Jainism]], but a few have converted to [[Sikhism]], [[Islam]], [[Christianity]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marenco |first1=Ethne K. |title=The Transformation of Sikh Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OeseAAAAMAAJ|date=1974 |publisher=HaPi Press |page=151 |language=en |quote=The Banias were again predominantly Hindu, but there were many Jain Banias and also Sikh and Muslim Banias in lesser numbers, and very few Buddhist Banias. Such was the picture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=Stephen A. |title=India: An Anthropological Perspective |date=1986 |publisher=Waveland Press |isbn=978-0-88133-245-2 |page=186 |language=en |quote=Some, like the Khojah caste, are Bania groups converted to Islam by Muslim pirs (saints).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=John|first=Jose Kalapura|title=King, Fort, Zamindaris and Missionaries: The Founding of Bihar's Oldest Christian Community, 1745|date=2000|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148177|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=61|pages=1011–1028|jstor=44148177|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Most of Hindu Gujarati Banias are [[Vaishnava]]s and are followers of [[Vallabhacharya]] and [[Swaminarayan]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Multiculturalism, Liberalism, and Democracy|page=228|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ps65AAAAIAAJ|author1=Rajeev Bhargava|author2=Amiya Kumar Bagchi|author3=R. Sudarshan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-19-564824-9 |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.}}</ref>

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. <ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref>

Baniyas were known to be hard working and frugal. Only minimum expenses would be made on clothing, food, and furniture.<ref name=":0" />

During the day, Baniya boys were sent to schools called ''patshala''s 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 [[Cipher|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 worthwile. 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.<ref name=":0" />

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 when speaking to others, but were not confrontatious. 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.<ref name=":0" />

In order to prepare for futher 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 exchange|futures exchanges]], which in turn somtimes turned into gambling.<ref name=":0" />

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 stigmatized, and those who were caught to be dishonest with another Baniya were boycotted, bankrupted, and stigmatized. Honour was also tied to socioreligious conduct, as mainting marital relations within the community, having a strong patriarch, and adherance to religious principles were all highly valued.<ref name=":0" />

Wealthy Baniyas only spent large sums of money for specific purposes: hosting feasts, buying jewelry (mainly for women), construction of [[Haveli|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.<ref name=":0" />

Baniyas were very religious, with the Jain and Vaishnavs beliefs, rituals, prayers, and ceremonies being often very similar. [[Pushtimarg]] Vaishnavs would perform emotional [[Sevā|seva]] to [[Krishna]], and Jains would be austere and follow the Jain vows. [[Lakshmi Puja]] was performed by Baniyas, as it Lakshmi would be considered to bestow wealth and welfare on the family.<ref name=":0" />


==Notable people==
==Notable people==
*[[Maithili Sharan Gupt]], Hindi poet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sunītā |first1=Ela |title=Maithilīśaraṇa Gupta kā kāvya: Saṃskr̥ta srota ke sandarbha meṃ |date=1984 |publisher=Hindī Vibhāga, Kocina Viśvavidyālaya |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZRjAAAAMAAJ&q=Maithili+Sharan+Gupt+gahoi |language=hi}}</ref>
*[[Maithili Sharan Gupt]], Hindi poet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sunītā |first1=Ela |title=Maithilīśaraṇa Gupta kā kāvya: Saṃskr̥ta srota ke sandarbha meṃ |date=1984 |publisher=Hindī Vibhāga, Kocina Viśvavidyālaya |page=20 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Maithil%C4%AB%C5%9Bara%E1%B9%87a_Gupta_k%C4%81_k%C4%81vya/OZRjAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Maithili+Sharan+Gupt+gahoi&dq=Maithili+Sharan+Gupt+gahoi&printsec=frontcover |language=hi}}</ref>
*[[Lala Lajpat Rai]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
*[[Lala Lajpat Rai]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Landscapes_of_Hope/zFy87zNb5QYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Lala+Lajpat+Rai+bania&pg=PA221&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{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://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Memoir_of_Pre_Partition_Punjab/z59MDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Ram Manohar Lohia]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
*[[Ram Manohar Lohia]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Routledge_Handbook_of_the_Other_Back/H5tIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ram+Manohar+Lohia+bania&pg=PT176&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Mahatma Gandhi]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
*[[Mahatma Gandhi]], Indian independence activist.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
*[[Premchand Roychand]], 19th century Indian businessman and founder of [[Bombay Stock Exchange]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Subramanian |first1=Lakshmi |title=Three Merchants of Bombay |date=15 January 2016 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9788184757217 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUhvd13OoEwC&dq=Premchand+Roychand+bania&pg=PT51}}</ref>
*[[Premchand Roychand]], 19th century Indian businessman and founder of [[Bombay Stock Exchange]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Subramanian |first1=Lakshmi |title=Three Merchants of Bombay |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9788184757217 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Three_Merchants_of_Bombay/iUhvd13OoEwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Premchand+Roychand+bania&pg=PT51&printsec=frontcover}}</ref>
*[[Dhirubhai Ambani]], 20th century Indian businessman.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
*[[Dhirubhai Ambani]], 20th century Indian businessman.<ref>{{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://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Changing_Face_of_Corruption_in_the_A/IM91DQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Dhirubhai+Ambani+bania+caste&pg=PA210&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Kumar Mangalam Birla]], Indian businessman.<ref name="Monthly Commentary">{{cite book |title=Monthly Commentary on Indian Economic Conditions |date=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8mcMMMhOMKUC&q=Kumar+Mangalam+Birla+bania |language=en}}</ref>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Kumar Mangalam Birla]], Indian businessman.<ref name="Monthly Commentary">{{cite book |title=Monthly Commentary on Indian Economic Conditions |date=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |page=15 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Monthly_Commentary_on_Indian_Economic_Co/8mcMMMhOMKUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Kumar+Mangalam+Birla+bania&dq=Kumar+Mangalam+Birla+bania&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Gautam Adani]], Indian businessman.<ref name="Monthly Commentary"/>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Gautam Adani]], Indian businessman.<ref name="Monthly Commentary"/>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Amit Shah]], Indian politician.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rathore |first1=Aakash Singh |last2=Nandy |first2=Ashis |title=Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives |date=18 December 2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5305-722-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16vDDwAAQBAJ&dq=Amit+Shah+baniya&pg=PT126 |language=en}}</ref>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Amit Shah]], Indian politician.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rathore |first1=Aakash Singh |last2=Nandy |first2=Ashis |title=Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives |date=18 December 2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5305-722-0 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Vision_for_a_Nation/16vDDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Amit+Shah+baniya&pg=PT126&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>{{better source|reason=Self-identification needed for mentioning caste of aliving person|date=June 2023}}
*[[Arvind Kejriwal]], Indian politician.<ref>{{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=March 29, 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.}}</ref>
*[[Arvind Kejriwal]], Indian politician.<ref>{{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=March 29, 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.}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 09:31, 19 June 2023

For the Nepalese community, see Bania (Newar caste).

Bania women in British India. Image taken before 1860.

The Bania (also spelled Baniya, Banija, Banya, Vaniya, Vani, Vania and Vanya)[1] is a Vaishya community found in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, as well as in other northern states.[2][3][4][5] Traditionally, the main occupations of the community are merchants, bankers, money-lenders, and (in modern times) owners of commercial enterprises.[6][7]

Etymology

The name Bania derives from the Sanskrit word vanik meaning traders.[8][9] In Bengal the term Bania is a functional catch-all for moneylenders, indigenously developed bankers, readers of grocery items and spices, irrespective of caste.[4]

Society

The community is composed of several sub-castes including the Agarwal Banias, Khandelwal Banias, Maheshwari Banias, Oswal Banias, and Porwal Banias, among others.[5][10] Most Banias follow Hinduism or Jainism, but a few have converted to Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.[11][12][13] Most of Hindu Gujarati Banias are Vaishnavas and are followers of Vallabhacharya and Swaminarayan.[14]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ Haynes, Douglas E. (30 October 1991). Rhetoric and Ritual in Colonial India: The Shaping of a Public Culture in Surat City, 1852-1928. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06725-7.
  2. ^ Aniketh Aga (2021). Genetically Modified Democracy: Transgenic Crops in Contemporary India. Yale University Press. p. 187. ISBN 9780300262582.
  3. ^ Jeffery, Roger; Jeffrey, Craig; Lerche, Jens (31 March 2014). Development Failure and Identity Politics in Uttar Pradesh. SAGE Publications. p. 74. ISBN 978-93-5150-428-3.
  4. ^ a b Schrader, Heiko (1997). Changing financial landscapes in India and Indonesia: sociological aspects of monetization and market integration. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-8258-2641-3.
  5. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick (8 May 2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. p. xcvi. ISBN 978-0-19-977169-1. 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
  6. ^ Hardiman, David (1996). "Usury, Dearth and Famine in Western India". Past & Present. 152 (152): 113–156. doi:10.1093/past/152.1.113. ISSN 0031-2746. JSTOR 651058.
  7. ^ Cheesman, David (1982). "'The Omnipresent Bania:' Rural Moneylenders in Nineteenth-Century Sind". Modern Asian Studies. 16 (3): 445–462. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00015262. ISSN 0026-749X. JSTOR 312116. S2CID 145722413.
  8. ^ Habib, Irfan (1990). "Merchant Communities in Precolonial India". In Tracy, James D. (ed.). The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750. Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–99. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511563089. ISBN 978-0-52145-735-4.
  9. ^ Ishwari Prasad (1986). Reservation, Action for Social Equality. Criterion Publications. Retrieved 23 February 2021. Here we are concerned only with upper backwards which have four castes; Yadav (11.0 per cent), Koeri (4.0 per cent), Kurmi (3.5 per cent) and Bania (0.6 per cent) .
  10. ^ Pradesh (India), Madhya; Krishnan, V. S. (1971). Madhya Pradesh District Gazetteers: Supplement. Government Central Press. p. 142.
  11. ^ Marenco, Ethne K. (1974). The Transformation of Sikh Society. HaPi Press. p. 151. The Banias were again predominantly Hindu, but there were many Jain Banias and also Sikh and Muslim Banias in lesser numbers, and very few Buddhist Banias. Such was the picture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  12. ^ Tyler, Stephen A. (1986). India: An Anthropological Perspective. Waveland Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-88133-245-2. Some, like the Khojah caste, are Bania groups converted to Islam by Muslim pirs (saints).
  13. ^ John, Jose Kalapura (2000). "King, Fort, Zamindaris and Missionaries: The Founding of Bihar's Oldest Christian Community, 1745". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 61: 1011–1028. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44148177.
  14. ^ Rajeev Bhargava; Amiya Kumar Bagchi; R. Sudarshan (1999). Multiculturalism, Liberalism, and Democracy. Oxford University Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-19-564824-9. 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.
  15. ^ Sunītā, Ela (1984). Maithilīśaraṇa Gupta kā kāvya: Saṃskr̥ta srota ke sandarbha meṃ (in Hindi). Hindī Vibhāga, Kocina Viśvavidyālaya. p. 20.
  16. ^ Ahmad, Dohra (2 March 2009). Landscapes of Hope: Anti-Colonial Utopianism in America. Oxford University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-19-971569-5.
  17. ^ Burra, Neera (15 February 2018). A Memoir of Pre-Partition Punjab: Ruchi Ram Sahni, 1863–1948. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-909130-0.
  18. ^ Somanaboina, Simhadri; Ramagoud, Akhileshwari (15 November 2021). The Routledge Handbook of the Other Backward Classes in India: Thought, Movements and Development. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-46280-7.
  19. ^ Guha, Ramachandra (15 October 2014). Gandhi before India. Penguin Books Limited. p. 42. ISBN 978-93-5118-322-8. The subcaste the Gandhis belonged to was known as Modh Bania, the prefix apparently referring to the town of Modhera, in Southern Gujarat
  20. ^ Subramanian, Lakshmi. Three Merchants of Bombay. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9788184757217.
  21. ^ Rowley, Chris; Rama, Marie dela (3 May 2017). The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges. Elsevier. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-08-101230-7.
  22. ^ a b Monthly Commentary on Indian Economic Conditions. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2010. p. 15.
  23. ^ Rathore, Aakash Singh; Nandy, Ashis (18 December 2019). Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-722-0.
  24. ^ "Kejriwal makes common cause with traders: I'm Baniya too". The Indian Express. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2023. 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.

Further reading

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