The Marwari or Marwadi (

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

: मारवाड़ी,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n ethnic group that originate from the

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of

Rajasthani language Rajasthani (Devanagari: ) refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also speakers in the Pakistani provinces ...

s, which is part of the Western Zone of

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

. They have been a highly successful business community, first as inland traders during the era of

Rajput kingdoms During the medieval and later feudal/colonial periods, many parts of the Indian subcontinent were ruled as sovereign or princely states by various dynasties of Rajputs. The Rajputs rose to political prominence after the large empires of ancie ...

, and later also as investors in industrial production and other sectors. Today, they control many of the country's largest media groups. Although spread throughout India, historically they have been most concentrated in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and the hinterlands of central and eastern India.

Etymology

The term ''Marwari'' once referred to the area encompassed by the former

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tran ...

, also called the

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

region of southwest

. The Jodhpur region includes the present districts of Barmer,

Jalore Jalore () ( ISO 15919 : ''Jālora'' ), also known as ''Granite City'', is a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalore District. It has a river known as Jawai Nadi. Jalore lies to south of ...

, Nagaur,

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

and parts of

Sikar Sikar is a city and municipal council in the Sikar district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Sikar district. It is part of the Shekhawati region, which consists of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu.Sik ...

. It has evolved to be a designation for the

Rajasthani people Rajasthani people or Rajasthanis are a group of Indo-Aryan peoples native to Rajasthan ("the land of kingdoms"), a state in Northern India. Their language, Rajasthani, is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages. History The fi ...

in general but it is used particularly with reference to certain

jāti ''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...

s that fall within the Bania community. The most prominent among these communities, are the Agrawals, Khandelwals,

Maheshwari Maheshwari, also spelled Maheshvari, is a Hindu caste of India, originally from what is now the state of Rajasthan. Their traditional occupation is that of commerce and as such they form part of the wider Bania occupation-based community that ...

s and

Oswal The Oswal (sometimes spelled Oshwal or Osval) are a Jain community with origins in the Marwar region of Rajasthan and Tharparkar district in Sindh. They claim to be of Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large ...

s. It is possible that the association of the ''Marwari'' term with Jodhpur owes more to the high status of that place in pre-independence India. Dwijendra Tripathi believes that the term ''Marwari'' was probably used by the traders only when they were outside their home region; that is, by the diaspora. Anne Hardgrove also supports this argument, saying that the Marwari identity could only exist in the context of a diaspora who came ''from'' somewhere and that until they migrated they had no such designation.

History

Early origins

Marwari traders have historically been migratory in habit. The possible causes of this trait include the proximity of their homeland to the major

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

trade route; movement to escape famine; and the encouragement given to them by various rulers of northern India who saw advantages in having their skills in banking and finance. The pattern of Marwari migration became increasingly divergent following the decline in wars between Rajput kingdoms, which the Marwaris had helped to finance, and the decreasing influence of the community over the North Indian caravan trading routes that resulted from the British establishing themselves in the region. The changed focus of migration was also encouraged by the British, who established or patronised new trading routes and centres, as well as by the decline in the political significance of the Rajput courts whose famed conspicuous consumption had been supported by Marwari money. The community welcomed the relative safety that the British presence offered, as well as the commercial and legal frameworks that they provided and which were more favourable to Marwari activities than the systems prevalent during the earlier period of Mughal and Rajput rule. The Marwari

Jagat Seth The Jagat Seth family was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from Murshidabad in Bengal during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal. History The house was founded by Jain Hiranand Shah from Nagaur, Rajasthan, who came to Patna in ...

family served as banker to the

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...

British era

After the decline of Mughal authority, Marwari traders, bankers and financiers migrated to the growing British power in Calcutta. There were particularly significant population shifts to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

between 1835-1850 and Kolkata from the 1870s, as well as to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Historian Medha M. Kudaisya has said that the Marwaris: A considerable number of Marwari business groups made their fortune on speculative markets in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Although maintaining close and public ties with the British authorities, members of the Marwari business community were early financial supporters of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, often in secret.

Independent India

In 1956, the All-India Marwari Federation opposed a linguistic organisation of states whilst buying up regional language newspapers in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. Today, they control many of the country's largest media groups. The community's influence over the Indian economy declined following the country's 1991 economic reforms. From a peak of controlling 24 per cent of economic activity in 1990, it had fallen to less than 2 per cent in 2000. This reflects the growth of new industries outside of commodities trading and primary production. The figure for 2000 is considered to be lower than the position in 1939, when the community first began its resurgence.

Language

Marwari, or Marrubhasha, as it is referred to by Marwaris, is the traditional, historical, language of the Marwari ethnicity. The Marwari language is closely related to the Rajasthani language. The latter evolved from the

Old Gujarati Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

(also called ''Old Western Rajasthani'', ''Gujjar Bhakha'' or ''Maru-Gurjar''), language spoken by the people in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and Rajasthan. It has been noted that throughout the state of Rajasthan, people avoid identifying their language by name, preferring to identify themselves as speaking "Rajasthani" with Marwari literature and taught as Rajasthani until secondary level.

Culture

Marwaris have been known for a tightly knit social solidarity, described by

Selig Harrison Selig Seidenman Harrison (March 19, 1927 – December 30, 2016) was a scholar and journalist, who specialized in South Asia and East Asia. He was the Director of the Asia Program and a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, and a ...

in 1960 as "indissoluble under the impact of the strongest regional solvents". According to Hardgrove, "The main duty for Marwari women, it would seem, is to provide a stable household life for their husbands, sons and brothers-in-law", although she acknowledges that some such women have in recent years been attempting to carve out roles in the wider world through engagement in charitable ventures and even running their own businesses.

Notable people

* Anil Agarwal *

Ritesh Agarwal Ritesh Agarwal is an Indian former billionaire entrepreneur who is a founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. Early years Ritesh Agarwal was born in a Marwari family in Bissam Cuttack, Odisha, India and brought up in Titilagarh. Ritesh comes from a ...

* Sanjay Agarwal * Nidhhi Agerwal *

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* Benu Gopal Bangur *

Sooraj Barjatya Sooraj R. Barjatya (born 22 February 1964) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and distributor, predominantly working in Hindi cinema. Barjatya has directed and produced some of the most commercially successful Indian films ...

Tarachand Barjatya Tarachand Barjatya (10 May 1914 – 21 September 1992) was an Indian film producer. He has produced many Hindi films from the 1960s through to the 1980s. He founded Rajshri Productions which continues to produce films even today. His mainstay wa ...

Shobhana Bhartia Shobhana Bhartia (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian businesswoman. She is the chairperson and editorial director of the HT Media, one of India's largest newspapers and media houses, which she inherited from her father. She has also recently take ...

Aditya Vikram Birla Aditya Vikram Birla (14 November 1943 – 1 October 1995) was an Indian industrialist. Born into one of the largest business families of India, he oversaw the diversification of his group into textiles, petrochemicals and telecommunications. ...

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Om Birla Om Birla (born 23 November 1962) is an Indian politician, agriculturist and social worker who is the 17th and current Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He serves as a Member of Parliament from Kota-Bundi constituency in Rajasthan. Prior to parliame ...

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Ritu Dalmia Ritu Dalmia (born 1973) is an Indian celebrity chef and restaurateur. She is the chef and co-owner of the popular Italian restaurant Diva in Delhi, which she established in 2000, with co-founder Gita Bhalla under partnership firm "Riga Food". O ...

Jagmohan Dalmiya Jagmohan Dalmiya (30 May 1940 – 20 September 2015) was an Indian cricket administrator and businessman from the city of Kolkata. He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as the Cricket Association of Bengal. He ...

Radhakishan Damani Radhakishan Shivkishan Damani is an Indian billionaire investor, business magnate and the founder of Avenue Supermarts Limited. He also manages his portfolio through his Investment firm, Bright Star Investments Limited. On 19 August 2021, he ...

Harsh Goenka Harsh Vardhan Goenka (born 10 December 1957) is the current chairman of US$3.80 billion worth Indian RPG Group The Rama Prasad Goenka Group, commonly known as RPG Group, is an Indian industrial and services conglomerate headquartered in ...

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S. N. Goenka Satya Narayana Goenka (ISO 15919: ''Satyanārāyaṇ Goyankā''; ; 29 January 1924 – 29 September 2013) was an Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation. Born in Burma to an Indian business family, he moved to India in 1969 and started tea ...

Desh Bandhu Gupta Desh Bandhu Gupta (8 February 1938 – 26 June 2017) was an Indian billionaire, philanthropist, entrepreneur and the founder of Lupin Limited, a multinational pharmaceutical company. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at US$ ...

Abhishek Jain Abhishek Jain is an Indian film director and film producer, producer known for his Gujarati cinema, Gujarati films ''Kevi Rite Jaish'', ''Bey Yaar'', and ''Wrong Side Raju''. Early life Abhishek Jain was born on 3 August 1986 in Ahmedabad. He i ...

* Ravi Jaipuria *

Shyamanand Jalan Shyamanand Jalan (13 January 1934 – 24 May 2010) was a Kolkata-based Indian theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s. H ...

* Rakesh Jhunjhunwala *

Rajeev Khandelwal Rajeev Khandelwal (born 16 October 1975) is an Indian film and television actor, singer and host. He started his career directing the television series '' Filmy Chakkar''. His break as an actor was as the lead in the television drama, '' Kahi ...

Rohit Khandelwal Rohit Khandelwal (born 19 August 1989), is an Indian model, actor, television personality, winner of Mr India 2015 and the first ever Asian to be crowned Mister World in the 2016 contest. Early life Khandelwal was born in Hyderabad. He is a ...

Mangal Prabhat Lodha Mangal Prabhat Lodha (born 1 December 1955) is an Indian businessman and politician. He is the Minister of Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Maharashtra). He was the president of Bharatiya Janata Party's ...

Shailesh Lodha Shailesh Lodha (born 8 November 1969) is an Indian poet, actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for portraying Taarak Mehta in the Hindi sitcom ''Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah''. Personal life Lodha was born in Jodhpur in a Marwari fam ...

, actor, writer and poet * Mohan Lal Lohia *

Smriti Mandhana Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana ( ; born 18 July 1996) is an Indian cricketer who represents the Indian women's national team. She plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League (WPL). In domestic cricket, she represents the Mah ...

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Palak Muchhal Palak Muchhal (born 30 March 1992) is an Indian singer and lyricist from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She and her younger brother Palash Muchhal perform stage shows across India and abroad to raise funds for the poor children who need financial as ...

Hanuman Prasad Poddar Hanuman Prasad Poddar (1892–1971) was an Indian independence activist, littérateur, magazine editor and philanthropist. He was the founding editor of the spiritual magazine, Kalyan which was published by Gita Press setup by Ghanshyam Jalan a ...

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Lala Kamlapat Singhania Lala Kamlapat Singhania (7 November 1884 – 31 May 1937) was an Indian industrialist, who founded the J. K. Organisation, one of India's largest conglomerate company. He was born to a Marwari Bania family in Kanpur, then part of the Nor ...

* Abhishek Singhvi *

Ashok Kumar Singhvi Ashok Kumar Singhvi is an Indian geoscientist and former Dean of Physical Research Laboratory. His field of expertise is Geophysics, Quaternary Sciences and Quantitative Geomorphology. Career Singhvi graduated with an MSc from Jodhpur Universi ...

Laxmi Mall Singhvi Laxmi Mall Singhvi (9 November 1931 – 6 October 2007) was an Indian jurist, parliamentarian, scholar, writer and diplomat. He was, after V. K. Krishna Menon, the second-longest-serving High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom (1991� ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Rajasthani people Ethnic groups in India Indo-Aryan peoples