Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s1.7.5

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.