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Bania: Maheshri/ Madhya Pradesh

From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India

By R. V. Russell

Of The Indian Civil Service

Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces

Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner

Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.

NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.

NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.

This important subcaste of Banias numbered about 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 191 1, of whom 8000 belonged to the Berar Districts, and the remainder principally to Hoshangabad, Nimar, Wardha and Nagpur. The name is said to be derived from Maheshwar, an ancient town on the Nerbudda, near Indore, and one of the earliest Rajput settlements. But some of them say that their original home is in Bikanir, and tell a story to the effect that their ancestor was a Raja who was turned into stone with his seventy-two followers by some ascetics whose devotions they had interrupted in the forest. But when their wives came to commit sati by the stone figures the god Siva intervened and brought them to life again. He told them to give up the profession of arms and take to trade. So the seventy-two followers were the ancestors of the seventy-two gotras or sections of the Maheshris, and the Raja became their tribal Blidt or genealogist, and they were called Maheshri or Maheswari, from Mahesh, a name of Siva. In Gujarat the term Maheshri or Meshri appears to be used for all Banias who are not Jains, including the other important Hindu subcastes.

1 See separate article on Jangam.

This is somewhat peculiar, and perhaps tends to show that several of the local subcastes are of recent formation. But though they profess to be named after Siva, the Maheshris, like practically all other Hindu Banias, are Vaishnava by sect, and wear the kiniti or necklace of beads of basil. A small minority are Jains. It is to be noticed that both the place of their origin, an early Rajput settlement of the Yadava clan, and their own legend tend to show that they were derived from the Rajput caste ; for as their ancestors were attendants on a Raja and followed the profession of arms, which they were told to abandon, they could be none other than Rajpiits.

The Maheshris also have the Rajput custom of sending a cocoa- nut as a symbol of a proposal of marriage. In Nimar the Maheshri Banias say they belong to the Dhakar subcaste, a name which usually means illegitimate, though they themselves explain that it is derived from a place called Dhakargarh, from which they migrated. As already stated they are divided into seventy-two exogamous clans, the names of which appear to be titular or territorial. It is said that at their weddings when the bridegroom gets to the door of the marriage-shed, the bride's mother ties a scarf round his neck and takes hold of his nose and drags him into the shed. Sometimes they make the bridegroom kneel down and pay reverence to a shoe as a joke. They do not observe the custom of the pangat or formal festal assembly, which is usual among Hindu castes ; according to this, none ^ Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat, p. 70.

can begin to eat until all the guests have assembled, when they all sit down at once. Among the Maheshris the guests sit down as they come in, and are served and take their food and go. They only have the pajtgat feast on very rare occasions. The Maheshris are one of the richest, most enterprising and influential classes of Banias. They are intelligent, of high-bred appearance, cleanly habits and courteous manners. The great bankers, Sir Kasturchand Daga of Kamptee, of the firm of Bansi Lai Ablrchand, and Rai Bahadur Seth Jiwan Das and Diwan Bahadur Seth Ballabh Das, of Jubbulpore, belong to this subcaste.

HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF MAHESHWARI's

By Mr Maheshwari

Apart from the usually accepted theory that the current Indian population derived from the mixing of Aryan & Dravidian races, I think there is a third strand of 'Scythians' with a different ethos, coming in groups a few centuries after Jesus. They mainly entered India through the Makran coast (Baluchistan) route to sparsely populated Sindh & Rajasthan areas. By then the Indian society with a 4-tier Caste system was facing a problem.

The warrior caste in the second tier was getting decimated in all-engulfing wars where clans supporting one or the other of the combating force participated. The 'Kshatrapa' or 'S`aka'(Scythian) tribes who were superb archers, horsemen & generally skilled in warfare, filled that niche in Indian society and came to be known as Rajaputras or Rajputs (=progeny of the warriors). Their region was known as 'Rajputana' that is mostly a desert. It is surmised that these tribes originated from northern & eastern coasts of Black Sea. In turn the European Gypsies claim their descent from these later day Indian tribes. Rajputs were intensely 'national', ferociously resisting the Islamic marauders coming from the North Western mountain passes.

The greatest of the mughal Emperors, Akbar, fought and defeated Rana (ruler) Pratap Singh of the Mewar kingdom of Udaipur in Rajputana. Ever since The Rana's court & many of his subjects took a collective vow that they would return to Udaipur when the city is rid of the Muslim rule and left the city with their families. Fashioning bullock carts like moving homes, they roam the country like nomads 'eking' out a livelihood from primitive ironsmithy. Other roaming Gypsies belonging to these tribes are now spread outside Rajputana, who stand out in a crowd by their distinct attire. In modern times this region with forts, its legacy of princely states (till independence) and their quaint customs has become a hot tourist destination for those coming from West.

India has at least one Maheshwari family in each of its 640 districts; although they may not speak the Marwari or Mewari dialect.

According to Ramesh Zawar, former news-editor Loksatta, celebration of the festival of Teej and the biannual Ashtami Puja is a sign that the family is Maheshwari irrespective of the language spoken in the family. As no standardized form of Marwari or Mewari language exists, it is possible that a Maheshwari family may not speak Marwari language; rather they would speak in any Indian language. After originating in Rajasthan (India), being a business community, maheshwaris spread in all over India and in modern times, maheshwaris are found all over the world.

Subcastes

There are 72 subcastes (khanp) in maheshwari caste.The list of subcastes is as follows:- Ajmera Agiwal Ashawa Attal Bagri Baheti Bajaj Baldewa Bangad Bhaiya Bhandari Bhangadia Bhuraria Bhutada Birla Biyani Chandak Chapperwal Chitlangia Daga Damani Dangra Dhoot Dujari Gandhi Gattani Heda Holani Innani Jaithalia Jaju Jjawar Kabra Kakani Kalyani Karnani Karwa Kasat Kela Khatod Kothari Ladha Lahoti Lakhotia Lohia Loya Malani Mall Malpani Malu Mandhana Mantri Mimani Modi Mohta Moona Mundhra Nawandar Newar Pachisiya Phalod Panpalia Pediwal Pugalia Randhad Rathi Saboo Sadani Sarda Sodhani Somani Soni Tapadiya Tawri Thirani Toshniwal Totla Tuwani Darak

Industrialists

Notabale among Maheshwari industrialists are Birla,Bangad,Somany,Dhoot(Videocon Group),Tapadia,Toshniwal,Mohta,

SURNAMES

By Maheshwari Family Tree

The following is a list of those 82 original last names (Surnames). There have been several additions to and derivatives from these names due to the family's place of business and/or the trade engaged in.

1. Ajmera 42. Navandhar

2. Asava 43. Pallod

3. Attal 44. Partani

4. Agiwal 45. Porwar

5. Aagsuad 46. Baldua

6. Innani 47. Baaldi

7. Karva 48. Boob

8. Kankani 49. Bangad

9. Kahalia 50. Bihani

10. Kalantri 51. Bidada

11. Kasat 52. Baheti

12. Kacholiya 53. Bajaj

13. Kalani 54. Birla

14. Kabra 55. Bang

15. Kalia 56. Bhandari :- Lathi

16. Khawad 57. Bhattad

17. Gagrani 58. Bhutada

18. Gattani 59. Bhuradia

19. Gadiya 60. Bhansaali

20. Gilada 61. Malooda:- Saboo

21. Daad 62. Malpani

22. Daga 63. Mandhania

23. Chandak 64. Mundhada

24. Chowkhda 65. Mandowara

25. Chachani 66. Maniyar

26. Chhaparwal 67. Modani

27. Jajoo 68. Mantri

28. Jakhetia :- Holani 69. Randad

29. Jhanwar 70. Ladha

30. Tavari 71. Lahoti

31. Toshniwal 72. Lakhotia

32. Totla 73. Soni

33. Tapadia 74. Somani

34. Darak 75. Sodhani

35. Dargad 76. Sarda

36. Devpura 77. Sikchi

37. Dhoot 78. Hurkat

38. Dhupad 79. Heda

39. Navaal 80. Rathi

40. Novlakha 81. Lohia

41. Nyati 82. Parwal