Agrawals are the descendent of Maharaja Agrasen who was a legendary Indian king of Agroha, a city of traders. He is the descendant of Kush, son of lord Ram and he was born in 35th generation after lord Ram. He is credited with the establishment of a kingdom of traders in North India named Agroha, and is known for his compassion in refusing to slaughter animals in yajnas. Agrawal Jains are an Indian

Jain community The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Shramana tradition. People who practice Jainism, an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent, are collectively referred to as Jains. Sangha Jainism has a fourfold orde ...

who originated from Agroha near

Hisar, Haryana Hisar is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarters of Hisar district of Hisar division in the state of Haryana in northwestern India. It is located 161.2 km (100.16 mi) to the west of New Delhi, India's capital, a ...

. In Sanskrit inscriptions and texts, the community is termed Agrotakanvaya.

Legends

According to texts from the Mughal period preserved in Delhi temple libraries, the emergence of the Agrawals is associated with Lohacharya and the

Kashtha Sangh Kashtha Sangha (काष्ठा संघ) was a Digambar Jain monastic order once dominant in several regions of North and Western India. It is considered to be a branch of Mula Sangh itself. It is said to have originated from a town named K ...

. Lohacharya arrived at Agroha in

Vikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...

760. He was given food by the local people and he founded the Kashtha Sangh order by installing a wooden idol. The Kashtha Sangh religious order has thus been closely associated with the Agrawal community. According to some legends, Agrawals were once ruled by a Raja Divakar who was a devout Jain.

History

Agrawal Jains in Delhi

The Agrawal merchant

Nattal Sahu Nattal Sahu (नट्टल साहु) of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, Delhi) is the earliest known Agrawal Jain merchant-prince, who lived during the reign Tomara king, ''Anangapal''. His life's account is described in Apabhramsha text ''Pasa ...

and the Agrawal poet

Vibudh Shridhar {{cleanup lang, article, date=November 2021 Vibudh Shridhar or Vibudha Shridhara (विबुध श्रीधर) (wrote during Vikram Samvat 1189-1230) was an accomplished Apabhramsha writer and poet in North India. He is the first known Agra ...

lived during the rule of Tomara Anangapal of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, near Delhi). Vibudh Shridhar wrote Pasanahacariu in 1132, which includes a historical account of Yoginipur (early Delhi near

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven medieva ...

) then. In 1354,

Firuz Shah Tughluq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

started the construction of a new city near Agroha called ''Hisar-e Feroza'' "Firuz's Fort". Most of the raw material for building the town was brought from Agroha. Hisar was a major center of the Agrawal community. Some Agrawals rose to good positions in Mughal period, specially during

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

Sahu Todar Sahu Todar, was a supervisor of the royal mint at Agra during the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar. With his patronage, Pande Rajamalla had composed ''Jambuswami Jambuswami (543-449 BCE) was the spiritual successor of Sudharmaswami in Jain rel ...

was a supervisor of the royal mint at

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, who had rebuilt the 514

Jain stupa The Jain stupa was a type of stupa erected by the Jains for devotional purposes. A Jain stupa dated to the 1st century BCE-1st century CE was excavated at Mathura in the 19th century, in the Kankali Tila mound. Jain legends state that the earlie ...

s at

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

in 1573, during the rule of Akbar.Jyotiprasad Jain, Pramukh Jain Etihasik Purush aur mahilayen, Bharatiya Jnanapitha, 1975

Sah Ranveer Singh SAH may refer to: People with the surname * Chih-Tang Sah, American engineer Places * Sah, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Sah, Mali, a village in the Mopti Region * Sah, Yemen Transport * Sana'a International Airport's IATA code * ...

was a royal treasurer during the rule of Akbar. He established the town

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

. His father as well as son and grandson had built several Jain temples, including the one at Kucha Sukhanand in

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 ...

Agrawal Jains in Rajput Kingdoms

Many Agrawals migrated to

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 ...

. They form a large fraction of the merchant population of Shekhawati region. Along with Maheshwari, Khandelwal they form the Marwari bania community. In the early 15th century, Agrawals flourished as a trader community under the

Tomaras of Gwalior The Tomaras of Gwalior (also called Tomar in modern vernaculars because of schwa deletion) were a Rajput dynasty who ruled the Gwalior Fort and its surrounding region in central India during 14th–16th centuries. They are known for their patr ...

.Kashtha Sangha Bhattarakas of Gwalior and Agrawal Shravakas, Dr. K. C. Jain Historian K.C. Jain comments: In the 15th century, many Agrawals migrated to

Amer Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

kingdom (now

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

). In VS 1535, Agrawal Nenasi conducted a

Panch-kalyanak Pratishtha ''Panch Kalyanaka Pratishtha Mahotsava'' is a traditional Jain ceremony that consecrates one or more Jain Tirthankara icons with celebration of Panch Kalyanaka (five auspicious events). The ceremony is generally held when new Jain temple is ere ...

ceremony at

Sanganer Sanganer is a town/ Tehsil (an administrative division) situated in Jaipur district, Rajasthan, 16 km south of state capital Jaipur. Jaipur has been divided in 13 Sub divisions and Sanganer is one of these 13 Sub divisions. It is famous for ...

. A copy of Amarsen Chariu copied in VS 1577 at

Sonipat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...

was found at Amer, suggesting that Agrawals took sacred texts with them during this migration.

Prachin Shri Agarwal Digambar Jain Panchayat

Seth Girdhari Lal, the son of Raja Shugan Chand, founded the organization Hissar Panipat Agarwal Jain Panchayat. It is now known as Prachin (i.e. old) Shri Agarwal Digambar Jain Panchayat. It is the oldest Agrawal Jain organization. It has been led by descendants of same family. The organization manages the historical

Naya Mandir Naya Mandir ( hi, नया मन्दिर, lit. New Temple) is a historic Jain temple in Old Delhi in India, in the ''Dharampura'' locality allocated to the Jain community by Aurangzeb. History Raja Harsukh Rai, a treasurer in the Mugh ...

as well as the

Lal Mandir Shri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir () is the oldest and best-known Jain temple in Delhi, India. It is directly across from the Red Fort in the historical Chandni Chowk area. The temple is known for an avian veterinary hospital, called the Jain Bird ...

. The Panchayat has been active in promoting unity among Jains of different sectarian backgrounds.

Notable people

Jinendra Varni Jinēndra Varṇī, one of the best-known Jain scholars of the 20th century, is known for his pioneering five-volume ''Jainendra Siddhanta Kosha'' and '' Saman Suttam'' compilation,Progressive Jains of India By Satish Kumar Jain, 1975, Shrama ...

compiler of the five volume "Jainendra Siddhanta Kosha" and

Saman Suttam ''Saman Suttam'' is the religious text created in 1974 by a committee consisting of representatives of each of the major sects of Jainism, Digambaras and Svetambaras, to reconcile the teachings of the sects. After a gap of about nearly two tho ...

compilation.Progressive Jains of India By Satish Kumar Jain, 1975, Shraman Sahitya Sansthan *

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author, freedom fighter, and politician. He played a vital role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of ...

, Indian independence activist

References

{{Jainism Topics Jain communities * Social groups of Rajasthan Social groups of Haryana Social groups of Delhi Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Social groups of Punjab, India Social groups of Himachal Pradesh Social groups of Uttarakhand