Oswal
Contents[hide] |
Oswal
This section has been extracted from THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
NOTE 1: Indpaedia neither agrees nor disagrees with the contents of this article. Readers who wish to add fresh information can create a Part II of this article. The general rule is that if we have nothing nice to say about communities other than our own it is best to say nothing at all.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all posts in this series have been scanned from a very old book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot scanning errors are requested to report the correct spelling to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.
Origin
A wealthy and respectable trading casts of Behar and Upper India, who say that their name is derived from Osia or Osnagar, a town in Marwar. Oolonel Tod places them among the mercantile Clans of Rajputs, and they themselves, like many other trading castes, claim to be pUl'e Vaisyas. However this may be, no one can fail to observe in them a refined type of features and a comparatively fair complexion-characteristics which can only be accounted for by supposing them to be of tolerably pure Aryan descent. A few of the sections of the caste are shown in Appendix I . They differ entirely from those of the Agarwals. The Oswals observe a complex rule of exogamy. A man may not marry into (a) his own section. (6) his mother's, (0) his maternal grandmother's, (cl) his paternal grand¬mother's, (e) his paternal great-grandmother's. This, though reaching much further than the common rule which bars only a man's own section, does not enable the caste to dispense entirely with the usual system of counting prohibited degrees. There is only one sub-caste, the Dasa, which is debaned from intermarriage with Oswals proper. According to Mr. lbbetson 1 the word "means 'hybrid,' and is nsed for members of other castes who have departed from the custom of the cllste or whose desoent is Dot pUl'e."
Marriage
Oswals marry their daughters as infants, prohibit widow¬ marriage, and do not recognize divorce. Like the Agarwals, they also forbid polygamy. Many of the caste are Swetambari Jains, but in spite of this difference of religion they intermany freely with Hindu Oswals, most of whom belong to the Vaishnava sect, and thus do not offend Jain prejudice by partaking of animal food. Gaur Brahmans serve the Oswals as priests, and do not forfeit their high position by doing so. The social rank of Oswals is a bout the same as that of Agarwals, and Brahmans will take water and certain kinds of sweet¬meats from their hands. The Oswals were not returned separately in the Oensus Report of 1872. The following statement, however, will show the distribution of the ca te in 1881 :¬
Oswal
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Groups/subgroups: Adhai (division), Bisa, Dasa, Muni Poojak, Murtipayak, Pacha, Sthanakvasi, Terahpanthi [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Bhura, Gandhi, Lodha, Lunawat, Saklecha, Sri Srimal, Srimal, Srisrimal, Surana [Uttar Pradesh]
- Subcastes: Oswal proper and Dasa in Bengal and Behar [H.H. Risley]
Bania, Seth, Shah [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Bhandasali, Gadia, Halakhandi, Khetoni, Khirsara, Konkria, Koshari, Kotecha, Lurhawat, Lurhia, Maratwal, Nagori, Pipra, Pithlia [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Exogamous units/clans: Asadhe, Bacharea, Baghmere, Bhandari, Bhandsali, Bothra, Brahmecha, Chaudhury, Daga, Dassani, Dungrani, Gadia, Gaochari, Garg, Gheeyu, Gunglia, Halakhandi, Kankria, Kataria, Khetoni Khirsara, Kotecha, Kothari, Lalwani, Lurhawat, Lurhia, Maratwal, Medta, Modi, Nagori, Parekh, Pipra, Pithlia, Shash, Tatia, Tilora, Uiahar, malk [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
- Sections: Baid, Baidmota, Chajia, Chaudalia, Chauraliya, Chopra, Dhariwar, Gelra, Golcha, Hinga, Jambar, Malkas,
Methi, Nakat, Nolka, Ranka, Saitiya, Set or Seth, Sil, Singh, Soni, Sri Srimal Srimal, Suchait in Bengal and Behar [H.H. Risley] Agra, Allahabad, Bachhawat, Barariya, Barhiya, Benaras, Bhansali, Bhatera, Bhurant, Bhuterip, Bora, Bothara, Brahmachiya, Chauthalip, Chhorawat, Dadha, Daftari, Daga, Darhiwal Dhamawat, Dhapaiya, Dosi, Dudheriya, Dugarh, Etawah, Gandhi, Goriya, Guguliya, Hirawat, Jhajlani, Jhavag, Jhovarb, Kachhab, Katari, Khater, Kirar, Kochar, Kodhari, Kojar, Kukara, Kumat Lembu, Lokar, Lorha, Marori, Mauhata, Mirich, Modi, Monot, Napharan, Nunawat, Nunip, Pagarip, Palawat, Palecha, Parakh, Parsani, Phophariya, Picha, Pitaliya, Raedasani, Rampuriya Ranka, Rauswasi, Rawani, Sanr, Sekhani, Sech, Sethiya, Sihani, Sikhawat, Singi, Srimal, Srisrimal, Suchet, Surana, Syamsukh, Tank, Thajer, Thatha, Tikuliya, Tugaliya, Ulencha, Vaid Vinayakiya in Budaun [W. Crooke]
