Marwari people
![]() Marwari husband and wife in traditional attire | |
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 8 million[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 7,800,000 |
![]() | 500,000 |
![]() | 33,803[2] |
Languages | |
Marwari, Rajasthani and Nepali | |
Religion | |
Majority: Hinduism Minority: Jainism, Islam, Christianity | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Rajasthani people |
The Marwari or Marwadi (Devanagari: मारवाड़ी) are Indian, Pakistani and Nepali ethnic group that initially originated from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani languages, which is part of the Western Zone of Indo-Aryan languages.
Etymology
[edit]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 Jodhpur region includes the present districts of Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu, Pali and parts of Sikar.[3][unreliable source?] 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 community. The most prominent among these communities, are the Agrawals, Khandelwals, Maheshwaris and Oswals.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[5]
History
[edit]Early origins
[edit]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 by various rulers of northern India who saw advantages in having their skills in banking and finance.[4]
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.[7]
The Marwari Jagat Seth family served as banker to the Nawab of Bengal.[citation needed]
British era
[edit]After the decline of Mughal authority, Marwari traders, bankers and financiers migrated to the growing British power in Calcutta.[8] There were particularly significant population shifts to Bombay between 1835-1850 and Kolkata from the 1870s, as well as to Madras.[7]
Historian Medha M. Kudaisya has said that the Marwaris:
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 I; 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.[9]
A considerable number of Marwari business groups made their fortune on speculative markets in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.[10]
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, often in secret.[10]
Independent India
[edit]In 1956, the All-India Marwari Federation opposed a linguistic organisation of states while buying up regional language newspapers in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.[11] Today, they control many of the country's largest media groups.[12]
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.[13]
Language
[edit]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 (also called Old Western Rajasthani, Gujjar Bhakha or Maru-Gurjar), language spoken by the people in Gujarat and Rajasthan.[14] 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.[15]
Culture
[edit]Marwaris have been known for a tightly knit social solidarity, described by Selig Harrison in 1960 as "indissoluble under the impact of the strongest regional solvents".[16] 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.[5]
Demographics outside India
[edit]Pakistan
[edit]Following the 1947 partition, many Marwari Muslims moved to the new state of Pakistan, mainly in Karachi with some in southern Punjab, and as of 2007 their numbers were estimated at around 500,000 in the country.[17]
The Ghazdarabad neighbourhood of Karachi has a Marwari Muslim majority, numbering around 20,000 and having mostly moved from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan after the partition and earlier in the 19th century as well.[18][19]
Nepal
[edit]The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Marwaris (called Marwadis in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of "Indian Nepalis".[20] At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 51,443 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Marwadi. The frequency of Marwadis by province was as follows:
- Koshi Province (0.4%)
- Bagmati Province (0.3%)
- Madhesh Province (0.2%)
- Lumbini Province (0.1%)
- Gandaki Province (0.0%)
- Karnali Province (0.0%)
- Sudurpashchim Province (0.0%)
The frequency of Marwadis was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:[21]
- Morang (1.0%)
- Parsa (0.9%)
- Kathmandu (0.8%)
- Sunsari (0.6%)
- Jhapa (0.5%)
- Banke (0.3%)
- Kapilvastu (0.3%)
- Sarlahi (0.3%)
Notable people
[edit]- Anil Agarwal[22]
- Ritesh Agarwal[23]
- Nidhhi Agerwal[24]
- Janaki Devi Bajaj[25]
- Rahul Bajaj[25]
- Benu Gopal Bangur[26]
- Sooraj Barjatya[27]
- Tarachand Barjatya[27]
- Shobhana Bhartia[28]
- Aditya Vikram Birla[29]
- Kumar Mangalam Birla[30]
- Om Birla[31]
- Kishore Biyani[32]
- Binod Chaudhary[33]
- Ritu Dalmia[34]
- Jagmohan Dalmiya[35]
- Radhakishan Damani[32]
- Harsh Goenka[36]
- Rama Prasad Goenka[37]
- S. N. Goenka[38]
- Abhishek Jain[39]
- Ravi Jaipuria[40]
- Shyamanand Jalan[41]
- Rakesh Jhunjhunwala[42]
- Rajeev Khandelwal[43]
- Rohit Khandelwal[44]
- Mangal Prabhat Lodha[45]
- Shailesh Lodha,[46] actor, writer and poet
- Shantanu Maheshwari.[47]
- Smriti Mandhana[48]
- Lakshmi Mittal[49]
- Palak Muchhal[50]
- Hanuman Prasad Poddar[51]
- Shashi and Ravi Ruia[52]
- Kiku Sharda[53]
- Lala Kamlapat Singhania[54]
- Abhishek Singhvi[25]
- Ashok Kumar Singhvi[55]
- Laxmi Mall Singhvi[56][25]
- Liaquat Soldier, comedy actor, writer and director.[57]
- Vijay Varma[58][59]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Marwari". Ethnologue.
- ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
- ^ "Marwari - Meaning, People, Religion, Caste, History". WebConte.
- ^ a b Kudaisya, Medha M. (2009). "Marwari and Chettiar Merchants. 1850s-1950s: Comparative Trajectories". In Kudaisya, Medha M.; Ng, Chin-Keong (eds.). Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents. Leiden: BRILL. p. 87. ISBN 978-90-04-17279-1. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ a b c Hardgrove, Anne (August 1999). "Sati Worship and Marwari Public Identity in India". The Journal of Asian Studies. 58 (3): 723–752. doi:10.2307/2659117. JSTOR 2659117. S2CID 162498846.
- ^ Tripathi, Dwijendra (1996). "From Community to Class: The Marwaris in a Historical Perspective". In Bhandani, B. L.; Tripathi, Dwijendra (eds.). Facets of a Marwar Historian. Jaipur: Publication Scheme. pp. 189–196. ISBN 978-81-86782-18-7.
- ^ a b Kudaisya, Medha M. (2009). "Marwari and Chettiar Merchants. 1850s-1950s: Comparative Trajectories". In Kudaisya, Medha M.; Ng, Chin-Keong (eds.). Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents. Leiden: BRILL. p. 88. ISBN 978-90-04-17279-1. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ Strasser, Susan (2013). Commodifying Everything : Relationships of the Market. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-13670-685-1.
- ^ Kudaisya, Medha M. (2009). "Marwari and Chettiar Merchants. 1850s-1950s: Comparative Trajectories". In Kudaisya, Medha M.; Ng, Chin-Keong (eds.). Chinese and Indian Business: Historical Antecedents. Leiden: BRILL. p. 86. ISBN 978-90-04-17279-1. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ a b Timberg, Thomas A. (2014). The Marwaris: from Jagat Seth to the Birlas. New Delhi: Portfolio Penguin. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-14342-405-5.
- ^ The Times of India, 11 February 1956, p. 3.
- ^ Ajwani, Deepak (18 March 2014). "Indian Media: Marwaris Write the Script | Forbes India". Forbes India. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Niyogi, Subhro (6 May 2002). "Marwaris losing business acumen". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ Ajay Mitra Shastri; R. K. Sharma; Devendra Handa (2005). Revealing India's past: recent trends in art and archaeology. Aryan Books International. p. 227. ISBN 978-81-7305-287-3.
It is an established fact that during 10th-11th century ... Interestingly the language was known as the Gujjar Bhakha.
- ^ Mukherjee, Kakali (2011). "Marwari" (PDF). Census India. p. 35.
- ^ Harrison, Selig, S. (1960). India: the most dangerous decades. Princeton University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-40087-780-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Karachi's own Marwari community". The News International. 27 May 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2024.
After partition some Muslim members moved to Sindh and southern Punjab in Pakistan. Today there are about half a million Marwaris living in the country.
- ^ Rafi, Yumna (31 May 2015). "In the heart of Karachi, women rule the streets at night". Dawn News.
The community that dominantly occupies this locality, the Marwari Salawat, migrated a little before partition from Jaisalmer city in Rajasthan, India and settled in Karachi and Hyderabad. The Marwaris are a close-knit community, numbering about 20,000 strong in the Ghazdarabad; they refuse to shift from the area that their forefathers had settled in.
- ^ Khan, Naimat (22 December 2023). "'Our lifeline': In Pakistan's Karachi, a small migrant community's nightlife in 'bakaras'". Arab News.
Such late-night rendezvous spent at gazebo-like community spaces called "bakaras" are an integral part of the social fabric of Muslim Marwaris, or Silawats, who migrated from India to Karachi in the nineteenth century (...) Silawats number around 20,000 and live together in one crowded locality in Gazdarabad where they have preserved the tradition of spending long nights in bakaras.
- ^ Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II [1]
- ^ 2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report
- ^ Tripathy, Srikanta (22 February 2022). "Hard-working Rajasthanis sacrificed a lot to build businesses: Anil Agarwal". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Chowdhry, Seema; Khurana, Chanpreet (30 November 2013). "Entrepreneurs | The company of teens". Mint. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Nidhhi Agerwal: I am a Tollywood buff who grew up watching Telugu films dubbed in Hindi - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d Taknet, D. K. (2016). The Marwari Heritage. IntegralDMS. ISBN 9781942322061. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Meet billionaire Benu Gopal Bangur, 92, whose net worth is Rs 59,000 crore, know about his business empire". DNA. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ a b Vasisht, Divya (29 June 2003). "Sooraj Barjatya: The big picture". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Jain, Gunjan (2018). Shobhana Bhartia: (Penguin Petit). Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 9789353054175. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Veteran industrialist BK Birla passes away in Mumbai at 98". The News Minute. IANS. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "The story of the first couple of the Birla empire". Rediff. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Samyak, Neelam; Samyak, Samyak (18 June 2019). "Om Birla, the new Lok Sabha Speaker has RSS roots and was part of Ram temple movement". ThePrint.
- ^ a b Sharma, Dimple (24 June 2020). "A tale of two Marwari merchants: Kishore Biyani and Radhakishan Damani". Times Now. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ "Binod Chaudhary – My Story: From the Streets of Kathmandu to a Billion Dollar Empire" (PDF). 28 May 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ Dalmia, Ritu (12 August 2016). "My freedom to love: 'I was 23 when I realised I was gay. I told my parents. The next day they sent a box of mangoes for my partner at the time'". India Today. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Choudhury, Angikaar (21 September 2015). "Jagmohan Dalmiya (1940-2015): The man who symbolised India's clout in world cricket". Scroll.in. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Seven key business lessons from Thomas A Timberg's book The Marwaris: From Jagath Seth to the Birlas". The Economic Times. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Mukherji, Udit Prasanna (15 April 2013). "Rama Prasad Goenka, the original takeover tycoon, is dead". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "You have to work out your own salvation - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "'કેવી રીતે જઈશ' અને 'બે યાર'ના સર્જક અભિષેક જૈન કહે છે...એ ઘટનાએ જ મારી ગુજરાતી ફિલ્મ બનાવવાની ધગશને વધુ પ્રગટાવી" (in Gujarati). 2 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ Karmali, Naazneen (5 February 2013). "Pepsi Bottler Ravi Jaipuria Is Newest Indian Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Shyamanand Jalan: Eminenet theatre actor Shyamanand Jalan dead | Kolkata News - Times of India". The Times of India. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passes away at 62; here's a look at India's Warren Buffett's life". Zee News. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "rediff.com: Rajeev Khandelwal chats with Rediff Readers". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ TT Bureau (18 September 2016). "Man of the world". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ Kashyap, Babita (17 July 2019). "भाजपा ने महाराष्ट्र सौंपा मराठा को और मुंबई मारवाड़ी को -". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Shailesh Lodha - मारवाड़ी भाषा री बात ही निराळी | शैलेश लोढ़ा | Raipur Live Video | RDC Rajasthani. RDC Rajasthani. 23 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022 – via YouTube.
At 3:06
- ^ ""I am Marwadi, must have regifted some gift," Shantanu Maheshwari's Never Have I Ever with ETimes TV | TV - Times of India Videos". The Times of India. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ Rizvi, Taus (22 April 2018). "Some people would say that I will become dark in the sun, and who will marry me if I played: Smriti Mandhana". DNA. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Choudhury, Chandrahas (21 July 2014). "MBA culture crushes India's caste system". Mint. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Muchhal, Palak [@palakmuchhal3] (14 October 2019). "My First Performance on stage!!! 😇 I was two and a half years old.. this was actually the first time I ever sang anything! No one in my Marwadi family would sing so It came as a surprise to my parents! ♥️ Singing Lataji's "Chalri Sajni Ab Kya Soche" here in the picture... 🎵 https://t.co/tySx2iZP3k" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ सिंह, एनके (29 August 2022). "हनुमान प्रसाद पोद्दार: किसी थ्रिलर फिल्म से कम नहीं है इनकी कहानी | - News in Hindi - हिंदी न्यूज़, समाचार, लेटेस्ट-ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़ इन हिंदी". News18 (in Hindi). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Timberg, Thomas A. (22 May 2015). The Marwaris: From Jagat Seth to the Birlas. Penguin UK. p. 74. ISBN 978-93-5118-713-4.
- ^ "46 साल के हुए कीकू शारदा:बिजनेस फैमिली से ताल्लुक रखते हैं 'द कपिल शर्मा शो' में नजर आने वाले कीकू शारदा, MBA करने के बाद बन गए कॉमेडियन". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Narayanan, Chitra (18 July 2011). "The Singhania story". Business Line. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "INSA :: Indian Fellow Detail". www.insaindia.res.in. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- ^ Singhvi, Abhishek Manu; Malik, Lokendra (2018). India's Vibgyor Man: Selected Writings and Speeches of L.M. Singhvi. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-909407-3. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "Liaquat 'Soldier' dies of heart attack: Express Tribune". 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ Majumdar, Anushree (24 February 2019). "After Gully Boy, Vijay Varma talks about spending a decade in the background". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "The Best Irani Cafe ft. Vijay Varma | Darlings | Menu Please". YouTube. Netflix India. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
External links
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