Marwari people
The Marwari or Marwadi are an Indian ethnic group that originate from the Rajasthan region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, is a dialect of Rajasthani and is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages.
Etymology
The term Marwari once referred to the area encompassed by the former princely state of Marwar, also called the Jodhpur region of southwest Rajasthan in India.The word Marwar is considered to be derived from Sanskrit word Maruwat, the meaning of maru being 'desert'. Others believe that word Marwar is made up of Mar from alternate name of Jaisalmer and last part war of Mewar. It has evolved to be a designation for the Rajasthani people in general but it is used particularly with reference to certain jātis that fall within the Bania ethnic category. Those communities, whose traditional occupation has been as traders, include the Agarwals, Khandelwals, Maheshwaris, Oswals, Mahawar Vaishya and Poddars.[1]
Dwijendra Tripathi believes that the term Marwari was probably used by the traders only when they were outside their home region; that is, by the diaspora.[2]
History
The Marwari traders have historically been migratory in habit. The possible causes of this trait include the proximity of their homeland to the major Ganges-Yamuna trade route; movement to escape famine; and the encouragement given to them to settle in kingdoms ruled by Rajputs who saw advantages in having their skills. Their abilities were valued by Rajput rulers because, in the period prior to the influx of the British to northern India, the Rajput kingdoms were often warring against each other and were also practitioners of conspicuous consumption in their royal courts.[1]
Business history
Medha Kudaisya has said that the Marwaris
... made the transition from being niche players in trading to becoming industrial conglomerates ... From being brokers and bankers, the Marwaris went on to break the British monopoly over the jute industry after World War 1; they then moved into other industrial sectors, such as cotton and sugar, and set up diversified conglomerates. By the 1950s, the Marwaris dominated the India private industry scenario, emerging as the establishers of its most prominent business houses.[3]
Marwaris who are involved in business include Kumar Mangalam Birla, Lakshmi Mittal, Shashi Ruia & Ravi Ruia, Gautam Singhania, Kishore Biyani, Jaidayal Dalmia, Ajay Piramal, Rahul Bajaj , Santosh Shaw and Sunil Mittal.[4]
Linguistic history
Marwari, or Marrubhasha, as it is referred to by Marwaris, is the traditional, historical, language of the Marwari ethnicity.[5] The Marwari language is a dialect of the Rajasthani language. The latter evolved from the Old Gujarati (also called Old Western Rajasthani, Gujjar Bhakha or Maru-Gurjar), language spoken by the people in Gujarat and Rajasthan.[6]
Food
The Marwari cuisine is strictly vegetarian and offers a fabulous variety of mouthwatering dishes. This section is incomplete without the mention of the famed Dal-Baati-Churma. One thing common for baatis, irrespective of their cooking technique is that they are always served dipped in ghee accompanied with panchmel or panch kutti dal and churma. The dal is cooked with ghee, the masalas in the dal are fried in ghee and more ghee is mixed into the dal before serving.[7]
References
- ^ a b Kudaisya, Medha M. (2009). "Marwari and Chettiar Merchants. 1850s-1950s: Comparative Trajectories". In Kudaisya, Medha M.; Ng, Chin-Keong (eds.). Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents. Leiden: BRILL. p. 87. ISBN 978-90-04-17279-1. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ Tripathi, Dwijendra (1996). "From Community to Class: The Marwaris in a Historical Perspective". In Bhandani, B. L.; Tripathi, Dwijendra (eds.). Facets of a Marwar Historian. Jaipur: Publication Scheme. pp. 189–196. ISBN 978-81-86782-18-7.
- ^ Kudaisya, Medha M. (2009). "Marwari and Chettiar Merchants. 1850s-1950s: Comparative Trajectories". In Kudaisya, Medha M.; Ng, Chin-Keong (eds.). Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents. Leiden: BRILL. p. 86. ISBN 978-90-04-17279-1. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ Forbes, India (2014-03-19). "Top 100 Listed Marwari-Owned Companies". Retrieved 2014-03-23.
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- ^ Ajay Mitra Shastri (2005). Revealing India's past: recent trends in art and archaeology. Aryan Books International. p. 227. ISBN 978-81-7305-287-3.
It is an established fact that during 10th-11th century ... Interestingly the language was known as the Gujjar Bhakha.
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