In the Central Provinces, like other Bania subcastes, they are divided into the Bīsa and Dasa or twenty and ten subdivisions, which marry among themselves. The Bīsa rank higher than the Dasa, the latter being considered to have some flaw in their pedigree, such as descent from a remarried widow. The Dasas are sometimes said to be the descendants of the maidservants who accompanied the seventeen Nāga or snake princesses on their marriages to the sons of Rāja Agar Sen. A third division has now come into existence in the Central Provinces, known as the Pacha or fives; these are apparently of still more doubtful origin than the Dasas. The divisions tend to be endogamous, but if a man of the Bīsa or Dasa cannot obtain a wife from his own group he will sometimes marry in a lower group.
The Agarwālas are divided into seventeen and a half gotras or exogamous sections, which are supposed to be descended from the seventeen sons of Rāja Agar Sen. The extra half gotra is accounted for by a legend, but it probably has in reality also something to do with illegitimate descent. Some of the gotras, as given by Mr. Crooke, are as a matter of fact named after Brāhmanical saints like those of the Brāhmans; instances of these are Garga, Gautama, Kaushika, Kasyapa and Vasishtha; the others appear to be territorial or titular names. The prohibitions on marriage between relations are far-reaching among the Agarwālas. The detailed rules are given in the article on Bania, and the effect is that persons descended from a common ancestor cannot intermarry for five generations. When the wedding procession is about to start the Kumhār brings his donkey and the bridegroom has to touch it with his foot, or, according to one version, ride upon it. The origin of this custom is obscure, but the people now say that it is meant to emphasise the fact that the bridegroom is going to do a foolish thing. The remarriage of widows is prohibited, and divorce is not recognised. Most of the Agarwālas are Vaishnava by religion, but a few are Jains. Intermarriage between members of the two religions is permitted in some localities, and the wife adopts that of her husband. The Jain Agarwālas observe the Hindu festivals and employ Brāhmans for their ceremonies. In Nimār the caste have some curious taboos. It is said that a married woman may not eat wheat until a child has been born to her, but only juāri; and if she has no child she may not eat wheat all her life. If a son is born to her she must go to Mahaur, a village near Delhi where the tutelary goddess of the caste has her shrine. This goddess is called Mohna Devi, and she is the deified spirit of a woman who burnt herself with her husband. After this the woman may eat wheat; but if a second son is born she must stop eating wheat until she has been to the shrine again. But if she has a daughter she may at once and always eat wheat without visiting the shrine. These rules, as well as the veneration of a snake, from which they believe themselves to be descended on the mother’s side, may perhaps, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, be a relic of the system of matriarchal descent. It is said that when Rāja Agar Sen or his sons married the Nāga princesses, he obtained permission as a special favour from the goddess Lakshmi that the children should bear their father’s name and not their mother’s.[2]
In Nimār some Agarwālas worship Goba Pīr, the god of the sweepers. He is represented by a pole some 30 feet long on which are hung a cloth and cocoanuts. The sweepers carry this through the city almost daily during the month of Shrāwan (July), and people offer cocoanuts, tying them on to the pole. Some Agarwālas offer vermilion to the god in token of worship, and a few invite it to the compounds of their houses and keep it there all night for the same purpose. When a feast is given in the caste the Agarwālas do not take their own brass vessels according to the usual practice, but the host gives them little earthen pots to drink from which are afterwards broken, and leaf-plates for their food. The Agarwālas will take food cooked without water (pakki) from Oswāl, Maheshri and Khandelwāl Banias. The Agarwālas of the Central Provinces hold some substantial estates in Chhattīsgarh; these were obtained at the first settlements during 1860–70, when considerable depression existed, and many of the village headmen were unwilling to accept the revenue assessed on their villages. The more enterprising Banias stepped in and took them, and have profited enormously owing to the increase in the value of land. Akbar’s great minister, Todar Mal, who first introduced an assessment of the land-revenue based on the measurement and survey of the land, is said to have been an Agarwāla.
[1] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Agarwāla.
[2] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Agarwāla.
Bania, Agrahari
Bania, Agrahari.[1]—This subcaste numbered nearly 2000 persons in 1911, resident principally in Jubbulpore, Raipur and Bilāspur, and some of the Feudatory States. Mr. Crooke states that they claim partly a Vaishya and partly a Brāhmanical descent, and wear the sacred thread. Like that of the Agarwāla Banias their name has been connected with the cities of Agra and Agroha. There is no doubt that they are closely connected with the Agarwālas, and Mr. Nesfield suggests that the two groups must have been sections of one and the same caste which quarrelled on some trifling matter connected with cooking or eating, and have remained separate ever since. The Agrahari Banias are Hindus, and some of them belong to the Nānakpanthi sect. They are principally dealers in provisions, and they have acquired some discredit as compared with their kinsfolk the Agarwālas, through not secluding their women and allowing them to attend the shop. They also retail various sweet-smelling woods which are used in religious ceremonies, such as aloe-wood and sandalwood, besides a number of medicines and simples. The richer members of the caste are bankers, dealers in grain and pawnbrokers.