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Agrawal

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Agrawal
Lakshmi Mittal • Bobby Jindal • Rahul Bajaj
Regions with significant populations
Haryana,Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand
Languages
Hindi, Punjabi, English, Marwari
Religion
Hinduism, Jainism
Related ethnic groups
Maheshwari, Sarabhai

Agrawals[I] (Hindi: अग्रवाल or अगरवाल) are a large and influential community in India. Traditionally, the Agrawals have been a trading community, though in modern times, the Agrawals follow other professions as well.[1] The legends of the Agrawals trace their origin to the Kshatriya king Agrasena, whose descendants became Vaishya due to their occupation.[1]

Legend

Main article: Agrasena

The Agrawals claim descent from the legendary king Agrasena of Agroha.[2] Various legends about Agroha and Agrasena are found among the Agrawals. Noted Indian Hindi author Bharatendu Harishchandra (himself an Agrawal[3]) wrote Agarwalon ki Utpatti (The origin of Agrawals) in 1871[4], based on an account in the Mahalaksmi Vrat Katha manuscript.[5]. According to this account, Maharaja Agrasena was a Suryavanshi Kshatriya leader, born during the last stages of Dwapar Yuga. He was the eldest son of the King Ballabh of Pratapnagar. Agrasena fathered 18 children, from which the Agrawal gotras came into being. According to a legend, the Hindu goddess Mahalakshmi urged Agrasena to give up the Kshatriya tradition, and take up the Vaishya tradition of business, for the sake of the prosperity of his people. She asked him to establish a new kingdom, and promised that she would bless his descendants with prosperity and wealth. Agrasena traveled all over India with his queen to select a place for a new kingdom, and finally established a kingdom at Agroha. According to Vachanakosha of Bulakhichand (1680 CE), Agar Rishi married a naga-kanya (nagavanshi girl) and had 18 children [6]. A similar account is given in 1885 Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, Rishi Agrasen married 17 naga-kanyas.[7].

Agrasena divided his kingdom among his 18 children, resulting in eighteen Agrawal gotras. Often, the number of gotras is stated to be seventeen and a half. According to one legend, Agrasena proceeded to conduct 18 mahayajnas ("Great yajnas"). When he was in the process of performing his eighteenth yajna, he was filled with compassion for the animal to be sacrificed. Therefore, he put a brake to his eighteenth yajna announcing that no sacrifices will be made in his kingdom in name of yajnas. Thus, the eighteenth yajna wasn't completed and Agrasena had performed seventeen and a half yajnas. The sage Garg blessed him with seventeen and a half gotras.[8][9].

In the later part of his life, Agrasena nominated his eldest son Vibhu to the throne and took up the Vanaprastha ashram. According to the legend, Agroha was a prosperous city and a hundred thousand traders lived in the city during its heyday. An insolvent community man as well as an immigrant wishing to settle in the city would be given a rupee and a brick by each inhabitant of the city. Thus, he would have a hundred thousand bricks to build a house for himself, and a hundred thousand rupees to start a new business. Gradually, the city of Agroha declined and was finally destroyed in a huge fire. The residents of Agroha i.e. the Agrawals moved out of Agroha and spread in other parts of India.

History

The Agrawal community traces it origins to Agroha, near Hisar in Haryana. The view is supported by historical evidence.

  • In Pradumna Charita of samvat 1411, the Agrawal poet Sadharu wrote "अगरवाल की मेरी जात, पुर आगरोए महि उतपात" ("My jāti is Agarwal, and I trace my roots to the city of Agroha).[10]
  • In his Padma Purana[11] of VS 1711, Muni Sabhachandra writes "अग्रोहे निकट प्रभु ठाढे जोग, करैं वन्दना सब ही लोग|| अग्रवाल श्रावक प्रतिबोध, त्रेपन क्रिया बताई सोध||", (When Lohacharya was near Agroha, he taught the 53 actions to the Agrawal shravakas).
  • In a Sanskrit inscription, the Agrawals are referred to as Agrotaka ("from Agroha"): "सं १३२९ चैत्र वुदी दशम्यां बुधवासरे अद्येह योगिनिपुरे समस्त राजावलि-समलन्कृत ग्यासदीन राज्ये अत्रस्थित अग्रोतक परम श्रावक जिनचरणकमल".[12]

The Agrawals migrated from Agroha to Delhi and Hisar. Later many of them migrated to the domains of Hindu kings at Gwalior and Rajasthan. They emerged as a notable trader community in medieval India.

The Agrawal merchant Nattal Sahu, and the Agrawal poet Vibudh Shridhar lived during the rule of Tomara Anangapal of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, near Delhi). [13]. Vibudh Shridhar wrote Pasanahacariu in 1132 AD, which includes a historical account of Yoginipur (early Delhi near Mehrauli) then.

In 1354, Firuz Shah Tughluq started the construction of a new city near Agroha, called Hisar-e-Feroza ("the fort of Firuz"). Most of the raw material for building the town was brought from Agroha.[14]. The town later came to be called Hisar. Hisar became a major center of the Agrawal community. Some Agrawals are also said to have moved to the Kotla Firoz Shah fort in Delhi, built by Firuz Shah Tughlaq.

Migration to other places

सं १५१० वर्षे माघ सुदी ८ सोमे गोपाचल दुर्गे तोमर वंशान्वये राजा श्री डूंगरेन्द्र देव राज्य पवित्रमाने श्री काष्ठासंघ माथुरान्वये भट्टारक श्री गुणकीर्ति देवास्तत्पट्टे श्री मलयकीर्ति देवास्ततो भट्टारक गुणभद्रदेव पंडितवर्य रइघू तदाम्नाये अग्रोतवंशे वासिलगोत्रे सकेलहा भार्या निवारी तयोः पुत्र विजयष्ट शाह ... साधु श्री माल्हा पुत्र संघातिपति देउताय पुत्र संघातिपति करमसीह श्री चन्द्रप्रभु जिनबिंब महाकाय प्रतिष्ठापित प्रणमति ..शुभम् भवतु ..||
A Gwalior Fort Inscription 1453 CE[15]

Many Agrawals migrated to Rajasthan. They form large fraction of the merchant population of Shekhawati region. Along with Maheshwari, Khandelwal and Oswals, they form the Marwari bania community.

In the early 15th century, Agrawals flourished as a trader community, under the Tomaras of Gwalior[16]. According to several Sanskrit inscription at the Gwalior Fort in Gwalior District, several traders (Sanghavi Kamala Simha, Khela Brahmachari, Sandhadhip Namadas etc.) belonging to Agrotavansha (Agrawal clan) supported the sculptures and carving of idols at the place.[17], [18]

Historian K.C. Jain comments:

Golden Age of the Jain Digambar Church in Gwalior under the Tomara rulers inspired by the Kashtha Bhattarakas and their Jaina Agrawal disciples who dominated the Court of father and son viz. Dungar Singh (1425-59)and Kirti Singh (1459-80) with the Poet-Laureate Raighu as their mouthpiece and spokesman, a centenarian author of as many as thirty books, big and small of which two dozen are reported to be extant today. Verify the advent of the Hisar-Firuza-based Jain Agrawals who functioned as the ministers and treasurers of the ruling family had turned the Rajput State of Gwalior into a Digambara Jain Centre par excellence representing the culture of the Agrawal multi-millionner shravakas as sponsored by them[19].

In 15th century, many Agrawals migrated to Amber kingdom (now Jaipur). In VS 1535, Agrawal Nenasi conducted a pratishtha ceremony at Sanganer[20]. A copy of Amarsen Chariu copied in VS 1577 at Sonipat was found at Amber, suggesting that Agrawals took sacred texts with them during this migration[21].

Later, during the Mughal rule, and during the British East India Company administration, some Agrawals migrated to Bihar and Calcutta, who became the major component of the Marwaris[22]. The family of Babu Shankarlal became zamindars at Arrah, which repaired temples at Masarh and built a new Jain temple in 1819 CE[23].

Agrawals under the Mughals

The Mughals were relatively liberal, and some Agrawals rose to prominent positions in this period. Sahu Todar was a supervisor of the royal mint at Agra, who had rebuilt the 514 Jain stupas at Mathura in 1573, during the rule of Akbar[24].

Sah Ranveer Singh was a royal treasurer during the rule of Akbar. He was awarded a jagir in western UP, where he established the town Saharanpur. His father as well as son and grandson had built several Jain temples[25], including the one at Kucha Sukhanand in Delhi.

In Delhi, in the walled city, many Agrawals were allocated lands on the north side of Chandni Chowk. in 1656, the Agrawals were permitted to have a temple in a tent in the Urdu Bazar, now known as Lal Mandir. Raja Harsukh Rai built the first temple with a shikhar (Naya Mandir) in Dharampura with imperial permission in 1807.

Lala Ratan Chand became the diwan of Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719) in 1712, and was given the title of Raja. He was associated with the Saiyid Brothers, who served as the king makers for several years, and became involved in the court intrigues. He was executed during the battle of Hasanpur by the order of the new emperor Muhammad Shah (1719-1748) in 1719. He became the founder of the Rajvanshi Agrawals[26].

Ramji Das Gurwala was a major banker who had both loaned and donated funds to Emperer Bahadur Shah Zafar during the 1857 rebellion. He was later executed by the British. His family later founded Delhi Cloth Mills.

Agrawal Society in modern India

The Agarwal population was 2,718,390, according to the 1911 census of India. In 1936, Chowdhary Chhotu Ram, a minister in the Punjab Government made a law which cancelled all the debts of the villagers[27]. Many Agrawal traders were ruined and migrated to Delhi in search of a living. They settled in colonies like Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar and Model Basti. Their trade took place around the walled city areas of Chandni Chowk, Khari Baoli, Dariba Kalan, Nai Sarak, Naya Bazaar, Sadar Bazaar and Chowri Bazaar.

During modern times, many Agrawals were involved in the Indian Independence struggle like Lala Lajpat Rai. They also established major business houses like Dalmia - Sahu Jain, Bajaj, Singhania, Goenkas of RPG Group, Lala Shri Ram of Delhi Cloth Mills etc. Bharatendu Harishchandra, a major literary figure, was also an Agrawal. The father of modern Lahore, Sir Ganga Ram was also an Agrawal.

Many of the notable modern Indian businesspeople belong to the Agrawal community. For example, Bhagwandas Bagla (considered to be the first Marwari millionaire), Lakshmi Mittal of Arcelor Mittal steel, Subhash Chandra Goel of Zee TV, Sunil Mittal of Bharti Telecom, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, Naveen Jindal (Jindal Iron & Steel Company Ltd), Anil Agarwal (Vedanta/Sterlite), Bharat Goenka (Tally Solutions), Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (India Stock Exchange Guru), Venugopal Dhoot (Videocon), Anil Mantri (Mantri Group), Sarda's (of Sharda Group) etc. are Agarwals.

Gotras

The Agarwal community is divided into eighteen gotras, which are exogamous in nature. Sometimes, the number of gotras is stated as seventeen and a half (see the legend section). The eighteen Agrawal gotras are:[28]

Gotra Original Gotra Lord Saint (Guru) Veda Branch Sutra
Airan/Aeron Aurva Indramal Atri/Aaurva Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayni
Bansal Vatsya Virbhan Vishist/Vatsa Samaveda Kouthmi/Kauttham Gobhil
Bindal or Vindal Vishist Vrinddev Yavasya or Vashista Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Bhandal Dhoumya Vasudev Bhardwaj Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Dharan or Deran Dhanyas Dhavandev Bhekaar or Ghaumya Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Garg or Gargeya Gargasya Pushpadev Gargacharya or Garg Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Goyal, Goel or Goenka Gomil Gendumal Gautam or Gobhil Yajurveda Madhuri Kaatyayni
Goyan, Goin, Goyanor or Gangal or Gol Gautan Godhar Purohit or Gautam Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Jindal Gemino Jaitrasangh Bruhaspati or Jaimini Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Kansal Kaushik Manipal Kaushik Yajurveda Madhyadini or Madhuri Kaatyayni
Kuchhal, Kachal or Kuchchal Kashyap Karanchand Kush or Kashyap Samaveda Kosami or Kauttham Komaal
Madhukul/ Madhavsen Aashvalayan/ Rigveda/Yajurveda Saalaya/Sakalya Aslayin
Mangal Maandav Amritsen Mudragal/Mandavya Rigveda/Yajurveda Sakalya Asusai
Mittal Maitreya Mantrapati Vishwamitra/Maitreya Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayni
Naagil/Nangal/Nagal Naagend Narsev Kaudalya/Nagendra Samaveda Kouthmi/Kauttham Aslayin
Singhal/Singla Shandalya Sindhupati Shringi/Shandilya Samaveda Koyumi/Kauttham Gobhil
Tayal Taitireya Tarachand Saakal/Taitireya Yajurveda/Kri Madhyadini/Aausthambh Kaatyayni
Tingal/Tunghal Taandav Tambolkarna Shandilya/Tandya Yajurveda Madhyadini/Madhuri Kaatyayni

Many Agrawals have adopted their gotra name as their surname. Many others use surnames linked with the place of their origin. Eg: Jhunjhunwala, Kediya, Gindodiya etc.[1] Many Agarwals have also adopted the surname Gupta.

According to the legend, the Agrawal community developed twenty rules of conduct. Those who followed all the twenty rules were called Bisa Agrawal, those who followed only ten rules were called Dassa Aggarwals, those who followed only five were called Punja Agarwals and so on.[29] According to some sources, the dasa Agrawals are said to be the descendants of Agrawals through non-Agrawal wives.[1] .

In his book Agarwalon ki Utpatti, Bhartendu Harishchandra categorized Agrawals in four branches according to their places or inhabitation:[4][29]

  1. Marwaris
  2. Deswal
  3. Purabiye (Easterners)
  4. Pachihiye (Westerners)

Culture

The Agrawal community generally speaks Hindi or its dialects. Many Agrawals have been notable Hindi authors like Bhartendu Harishchandra, Babu Gulabrai and Vasudev Sharan Agrawal . Some of the popular Hindi newspapers and publishing houses are run by Agrawals. These include The Times of India, Indian Express, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar,Ajj Ka Anand ;Daily Jabalpur Janpaksh etc. Older generations of Agrawals living in Haryana, Delhi and western UP often speak Hindi with a Haryanvi accent. Agrawals from Rajasthan traditionally speak Rajasthani or Marwari, those in Punjab, speak Punjabi. [1]

Agrawals have traditionally been strictly vegetarian and non-alcoholic, though some have changed in the modern times.


Distinguished Agrawals

Main article: List of distinguished Agrawals

Notes

I. ^ Many alternative spellings include Agrewal, Agrawal, Agarwal, Agarwala, Aggarwal etc.


References

  1. ^ a b c d e Singh, Kumar Suresh (2004). People of India. Popular Prakashan (Mumbai), Anthropological Survey of India (Kolkata). p. 46. ISBN 8179911004. OCLC 58037479. Retrieved 2007-04-19. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Another Ancient Tribe of the Panjab, by L. D. Barnett, Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, 1940, p. 277-284
  3. ^ "Bhartendu Harish Chandra (1850-1885)". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  4. ^ a b Bharatendu Harishchandra, Agrawalon ki Utpatti, 1871, reprinted in Hemant Sarma, Bharatendu Samgrah, Varanasi, Hindi Pracharak Samsthan, 1989.
  5. ^ The text from the manuscript is given in Satyaketu Vidyalankar, Agrwal Jati Ka Prachin Itihas, Masuri, Shri Sarasvati Sada, 1976
  6. ^ Kavivar Bulakhichand, Kasturchand Kasliwal, Jaipur, 1983
  7. ^ Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, 1885, page 262-263
  8. ^ ज्वालाप्रसाद मिश्र, जाति भास्कर, खेमराज श्रीकृष्णदास, १९१४.
  9. ^ "Agrawals". Shri Agrawal Samaj. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  10. ^ Dr. Kasturachand Kasliwal, Khandelwal Jain Samaj ka Vrihad Itihas, 1969, p. 49
  11. ^ Muni Sabhachandra aur Unaka Padmapurana, Kasturchanda Kasliwal, 1984
  12. ^ Parmananda Jain Shastri. Agrawalon ka Jain sanskriti mein yogadan. Anekanta Oct. 1966, p. 277-281
  13. ^ An Early Attestation of the Toponym Ḍhillī, by Richard J. Cohen, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1989, p. 513-519
  14. ^ The story of Hisar
  15. ^ http://www.webdunia.com/dharm/jain/gopachal/19_gopachal9.htm Gopachal ke Jinamandir
  16. ^ Kashtha Sangha Bhattarakas of Gwalior and Agrawal Shravakas, Dr. K. C. Jain
  17. ^ "गोपाचल के जिन मन्दिर एवं प्रतिमाएँ" (in Hindi). Webdunia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  18. ^ रामजीत जैन, गोपाचल सिद्ध क्षेत्र, १९८७
  19. ^ Kashtha Sangha Bhattarakas of Gwalior and Agrawal Shravakas, Dr. K. C. Jain
  20. ^ Jain Inscriptions of Rajasthan, R.V. Somani, 1982
  21. ^ Amarasena Chariu, Dr. Kasturchand Jain Suman, 1990
  22. ^ Anne Hardgrove, Community and Public Culture: The Marwaris in Calcutta, New Delhi, Oxford University Press (2004) ISBN 0-19-566803-0
  23. ^ Report By Archaeological Survey of India, Alexander Cunningham
  24. ^ Jyotiprasad Jain, Pramukh Jain Etihasik Purush aur mahilayen, Bharatiya Jnanapitha, 1975
  25. ^ Jyotiprasad Jain, Pramukh Jain Etihasik Purush aur mahilayen, Bharatiya Jnanapitha, 1975
  26. ^ History of Origin of Some Clans in India, Mangal Sen Jindal, Pub. Sarup and Sons, 1992
  27. ^ Madhulika Shankar Singh. Not all about money: Aggarwals of Delhi. Daily Pioneer. October 05, 2002.
  28. ^ "Agrawal History". Agrawal Association of America. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  29. ^ a b "Evolution of Agrawal Samaj". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
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