Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.7.2

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.