Bania, Khandelwāl
Bania, Khandelwāl.—This subcaste numbers about 1500 persons in the Central Provinces; they are most numerous in the Hoshangābād and Amraoti Districts, but are scattered all over the Province. They take their name from the town of Khandela in the Jaipur State of Rājputāna, which was formerly the capital of the Shekhāwati federation. There is also a Khandelwāl subcaste of the Brāhman caste, found in the United Provinces.[1] Mr. Bhattachārya says of them:[2] “The Khandelwāl Banias are not inferior to any other division of the caste either in wealth or refinement. There are both Vaishnavites and Jains among them, and the Vaishnavite Khandelwāls wear the sacred thread. The millionaire Seths of Mathura are Khandelwāl Banias.”
[1] Mr. Crooke’s Tribes and Castes, art. Khandelwāl.
[2] Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 209.