The Bania (also spelled as Baniya, Banija, Banya, Vaniya, Vani, Vania and Vanya) is an occupational community of merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities
In economics
Economics () is the social science that studies how people interact with value; in particular, the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distributi ...
s, banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital ma ...
s, money-lenders, and (in modern times) owners of commercial enterprise
Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and services). Simply put, it is "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."
Having a busi ...
s. The community is composed of several sub-castes including the Agarwal Banias, Oswal Banias, Porwal Banias and Wani Banias, among others. The term is used in a wider sense in Bengal
Bengal (; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region located in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, p ...
than it is elsewhere in India, where it is applied to all money-lenders and indigenously developed bankers, irrespective of caste. Most Banias follow Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, ...
and Jainism
Jainism (), traditionally known as ''Jain Dharma'', is an ancient Indian religion. It is one of the oldest Indian religions. The three main pillars of Jainism are ''Ahimsa in Jainism, ahiṃsā'' (non-violence), ''anekāntavāda'' (non-absolut ...
but a few have converted to Sikhism
Sikhism () or Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none)''Sikhism'' (indigenously known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes from the Sanskr ...
, Islam
Islam (; ar, اَلْإِسْلَامُ, al-’Islām, "submission o God
Oh God may refer to:
* An exclamation; similar to "oh no", "oh yes", "oh my", "aw goodness", "ah gosh", "ah gawd"; see interjection
An interjection is a word or ex ...
, Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic
The Abrahamic religions, also referred to collectively as the world of Abrahamism and Semitic religions, are a group of Semitic-originated religion
Religion is a social system, social-cultural system of ...
and Buddhism
Buddhism (, ) is the world's fourth-largest religion
Religion is a social
Social organisms, including humans, live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and ...
.
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib (born 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography
Marxist historiography, or historical materialist
Historical materialism, also known as the materialist conc ...
believes the etymological origin to lie in the Sanskrit word ''vanik'', and deems them to be India's "pre-eminent" trading community, historically. They are classified as Upper Backward Caste in Bihar.
See also
*Vaishya
Vaishya (Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language of South Asia that belongs to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after ...
References
Further reading
* *External links
* {{Britannica, 51854 Social groups of India