Marwari people

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
(Redirected from Marwaris)
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Marwari
Marwadi Husband and Wife in Traditional Attire Rajasthan India.jpg
Marwari husband and wife in traditional attire
Regions with significant populations
Rajasthan region of India
Languages
Marwari language
Religion
Hinduism, Islam and Jainism
Related ethnic groups
Rajasthani people
Birla Mandir, New Delhi built by the Birla family in 1939

The Marwari or Marwadi are an Indian ethnic group that originate from the Rajasthan region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, is closely related to Rajasthani, which is part of the Western Zone of Indo-Aryan languages, and often subsumed under Rajasthani.

Etymology

The term Marwari once referred to the area encompassed by the former princely state of Marwar, also called the Jodhpur region of southwest Rajasthan in India.The word Marwar is considered to be derived from Sanskrit word Maruwat, the meaning of maru being 'desert'. Others believe that word Marwar is made up of Mar from alternate name of Jaisalmer and last part war of Mewar. It has evolved to be a designation for the Rajasthani people in general but it is used particularly with reference to certain jātis that fall within the Bania ethnic category.Those communities, whose traditional occupation has been as traders, comprise the Agarwals, Khandelwals, Maheshwaris and Oswals.[1]

The Marwari name was given to people of Rajasthan by Kolkata, who migrated for trading and to do business in Kolkata. Many people from various Marwari castes migrated to distant states for business, agriculture and later became successful. The term "Marwari" caught on as a way to refer to a businessman from Marwar. [2]

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.[3]

History

The Marwari traders have historically been migratory in habit. The possible causes of this trait include the proximity of their homeland to the major Ganges-Yamuna trade route; movement to escape famine; and the encouragement given to them to settle in kingdoms ruled by Rajputs who saw advantages in having their skills. Their abilities were valued by Rajput rulers because, in the period prior to the influx of the British to northern India, the Rajput kingdoms were often warring against each other and were also practitioners of conspicuous consumption in their royal courts.[1]

Kedia Family Haveli (Fatehpur, Shekhawati, Rajasthan)

Business history

Medha Kudaisya has said that the Marwaris:

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

... made the transition from being niche players in trading to becoming industrial conglomerates ... From being brokers and bankers, the Marwaris went on to break the British monopoly over the jute industry after World War 1; they then moved into other industrial sectors, such as cotton and sugar, and set up diversified conglomerates. By the 1950s, the Marwaris dominated the India private industry scenario, emerging as the establishers of its most prominent business houses.[4]

Linguistic history

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Marwari, or Marrubhasha, as it is referred to by Marwaris, is the traditional, historical, language of the Marwari ethnicity.[2] The Marwari language is closely related to the Rajasthani language. The latter evolved from the Old Gujarati (also called Old Western Rajasthani, Gujjar Bhakha or Maru-Gurjar), language spoken by the people in Gujarat and Rajasthan.[5]

Food

The Marwari cuisine is strictly vegetarian, yet offers a diversity of different dishes. The locally famed Dal-Baati-Churma is a popular dish among Marwari people. One thing common for baatis, irrespective of their cooking technique, is that they are always served dipped in ghee, accompanied with panchmel, or panch kutti dal and churma. The dal is cooked with ghee, the masalas in the dal are fried in ghee, and more ghee is mixed into the dal before serving.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.