Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.7.4

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.