Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.7
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.7
- Language
- German
c48.s1.7.1
§ 28. **Trading Castes** (10,680,800): This is the first of the distinctively functional groups to be brought under review. It is not, however, merely a collection of communities each with its separate designation, like those which have preceded it, but contains some general titles denoting the occupation of trading, but which do not include all the castes following that calling in the locality where it prevails. The leading example of these is the Banyā or Vāniā, of upper and western India, under which name are included nearly all the trading classes, but not important castes like the Khatrī and Arōṛā in the Panjāb, or the Bhāṭiā and Lohānā of Sindh. There are grounds for thinking that the exclusion is due to differences of race. The Khatrī and Arōṛā, like the Banyā, derive their origin from Rājputāna, in the larger sense in which that term was used in the preceding paragraph, but the latter affiliate themselves directly to certain clans of Rājputs, whilst the former refer themselves back to the Kṣatriya, and give the western region of Mūltān and upper Sindh as the cradle of their caste. It has been conjectured from the customs and internal structure of the Khatrī and Arōṛā, which differ in some respects from those of the ordinary Brāhmanic castes, that these communities are descended from one of the S'aka colonies which long held the tracts above mentioned.
c48.s1.7.2
The Banyā, with the exception of the Agarvāl, who come from Agar near Ujjain, give the now ruined city of Bhinmāl, or S'rīmāl, in Mārwāḍ as their original home, and claim descent from the Sōlaṅki clan of the Agnikula or Hūna Rājputs, so that, like the Khatrī, they are of foreign race. Whether owing to this origin or to the refining influence of generations of sedentary pursuits in prosperous circumstances, the personal appearance of the Banyā is decidedly above the average. The western subdivisions, such as the S'rīmālī, Porvāl and Osvāl, which are all closely connected with each other, are largely, and in many tracts, mostly, of the Jain religion, a creed which seems to have commended itself to the mercantile community at a comparatively early period; and they allege the acceptance of the peaceful tenets of this faith to have been one of the main reasons for their separation from the bellicose Rājput. In the present day, except in Delhi, where a special casus belli arose some years ago, the Mahēśrī, or Brāhmanic section of the caste intermarries with the S'rāvak, or Jain, and the latter, in turn, employ for their caste and domestic ministrations, the Bhōjak, or Sēvak, a subdivision of Brāhmans not in high repute among the priestly orders, representing, as they are said to do, the Māga sun-priests introduced from Īrān by the Hūna and other invaders.
c48.s1.7.3
In addition to the main divisions of the Banyā, almost every body is subdivided into "full-scores" (vīsa) and "half-scores" (dasa), denoting the relative admixture of lower blood. In many castes the partition has to be carried still further, and the "quarter-score" (pañca) represents the minimum of pure descent. None of the subdivisions intermarry, though in the west there is occasional connubium found between the "vīsa", or highest sections of the respective castes. The Banyā engage in most mercantile pursuits, from high finance and extensive foreign trade down to the retail of the most common articles of everyday use, so long as these are not conventionally polluting. They are not as wedded to their native place as most of the Indian communities, and settle, sometimes permanently, in villages where they are strangers both in caste and language. Others, principally from the desert States, habitually leave home for the more favoured parts of the country, and return only after their fortune is made there. The upper classes of the Banyā are well educated and often keen sectarians in regard to religion. In some tracts they are entering the law and the State offices, though not in large numbers. The Khatrī of the Panjāb, on the other hand, in addition to the trade of all but the south-west of his province, has almost the monopoly of official and professional employment, and has passed even beyond the Panjāb into parts of the neighbouring province in similar callings.
c48.s1.7.4
This caste has what the Banyā lacks, the tradition of administrative and political success, in which it resembles the Marāṭhā Brāhman mentioned above. Tōdar Mal, the celebrated financier under Akbar, was a Khatrī, and has had more than one successor, though not of the same calibre. Then, too, though the bulk of the Khatrī are not of the Sikh faith, they have always been connected with it, and both Nānak and Govind belonged to their ranks. In the present day, such priests as are required by the Sikhs are usually Khatrī. In trade, though sharp and industrious, the Khatrī does not take so high a position as the Banyā, but confines his operations generally to small local transactions, and does not, as a rule, set up branch establishments outside his native province. There are, however, a few colonies in Bengal, but they are detached, and their position is considerably below that occupied by the caste in its northern home. In some other parts of India there are Khatrī returned who trace their origin back to the Panjāb or north Rājputāna, and were probably driven southwards by one of the Scythic cataclysms, and like others similarly circumstanced, found themselves obliged to take to new means of livelihood, generally silk-weaving.
c48.s1.7.5
Closely allied to the Khatrī, but occupying a decidedly inferior social position, are the Arōṛā of the south-western Panjāb, who, starting from nearly the same region as the others, do not appear to have pushed their way into the fertile tracts of the north, but to have remained on the less remunerative plains along the Indus. In the same direction are the Bhāṭiā and Lohānā of Sindh. The former have preserved in their title the memory of their origin in the Bhaṭṭī districts of north Rājputāna, and claim descent from the predominant Rājput stock of that locality, just as the Banyā of Bhīnmāl does in the west. There is this further similarity, that the Yādava race of the Bhaṭṭī looks back to a S'aka founder, in the grandson of Kaniṣka. There are still a good many Bhāṭiā in the Panjāb, where their Rājput blood seems unquestioned, but, unlike the Khatrī, their position seems to improve the further they get from their native country, and it is along the coast that they are most flourishing, and in upper Sindh most depressed. They have so arranged their caste-rules that they are able to cross the ocean without subsequent trouble, and are among the most travelled and enterprising merchants of Kach, Bombay, Zanzibar and even China. The Lohānā, again, are of Mārwāḍ origin, but moved into Sindh very early in their history, and have there remained. From a centre at Shikārpur, they travel far into Central Asia and even to the banks of the Volga.
c48.s1.7.6
One of their subdivisions (the Āmil) has followed the example of the Khatrī, and taken to clerical professions. Like its prototype, also, it has succeeded in monopolising the pick of official employment in its native province.