Kesarwani

The Kesarwani, also known as Kesarwani, Kesari or Keshari, are a Bania and sub-caste found in India.^[1] They originated from Kashmiri Hindus in the Kashmir region and are now found in other parts of northern India, to which they migrated during the Mughal era. Kesar refers to saffron, which they traded, and Wani refers to the Kashmiri caste to which they belong.^[1]

The Kesarwani were cultivators or traders of saffron (kesar in Hindustani) and originated from the Kashmir Valley of India. In the 12th century, many of the Kesarwani migrated to what today comprise the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.^[2]

It is said that, as per a carved-engraved stone, found from Kashmir and presently available at the Pakistan Museum, that a group of people belonging to the Kansal gotra of the Agrawal community from the Punjab were gone to the Kashmir valley in regard to Kesar trade and were settled there. Gradually there population increased in the region and after the aforesaid incident they migrated to Delhi, as well as to other places from Delhi.^{[citation needed]}

See also[]

• Vaishya
• Kashmiri Hindus
• Kashmiri Pandit

History and origin

There two traditions as to the origin of the community. According to one of the traditions, they originated in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. While according to other sources, they were cultivators or traders of saffron, Kesar in Hindi. They use the surnames Gupta and Kesarvani in western Uttar Pradesh, while those of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal use the surname Shaw, Shah, Sah or Saw. The Kesarvani speak various dialects of Hindi such as Awadhi, Bundeli and Bhojpuri. They have two sub-divisions, the Purbi or eastern and Paschami or western branch.[3] The history of the Kesarwani community is no different from the history of the world civilizations. The name Kesar-Wani is often interpreted as Saffron-Traders (“Kesar” – Saffron / Zaffran and “Wani” – Traders). It is arguably true that when the Kesarwanis were settled in Kashmir they traded in Kesar, but to base their identity on this singular fact is blatant oversimplification. It is preposterous to isolate an intermediate time period from a wide span of history to create the identity of a community without scholarly justification. Saffron is native to the Mediterranean and introduced in India probably by the Kesarwanis. The saffron traders came to India through the ancient trade routes but they did not come to India to trade exclusively in saffron.[4]

It is interesting to note that many books and periodicals of some antiquity refer to Kesarwani as Kasarwani. But it should not be confused with a community in Gujarat who trade in “Kasa” utensils. The prevalence of the use of the word “Kasarwani” in pre-independence India (even in British accounts) points to the fact that the actual interpretation of the community’s name is “Traders of Kasar” rather than anything else as per any popular belief. But this is no justification unless it is derived what “Kasar” really means. The etymology of the word “Kasar” is “Kasr”. Inflection in words, especially in antique languages, is a wide area of research for philologists and the afore-mentioned inflection will be comprehensible to them. But for a layman it will suffice to know that just as the Sanskritized form of “Krishna” is “Krsn”, so “Kasar” is actually “Kasr”. It is to be noted that the corruption in spelling from “Kasrwani” to “Kasarwani” to “Kesarwani” is not as pronounced while speaking. In speech the pronunciation is often still “Kasr-wani”. The next task is to search for the meaning of “Kasr” if the community’s nomenclature is to be justified as “Traders of Kasr”.[5]

Those who have basic knowledge of ancient history will know that the triumvirate of civilizations that formed the earliest global highway for human migration were the Egyptian (later also Syrian and Turkey), Mesopotamian (along with Sumero-Akkadian, Chaldean, Assyrian, and Babylonian), and the Indic (Indus and Vedic). Kasrwanis, being traders, were civilized and belonged to one of these civilizations. Physically the Kasrwanis do not resemble IndusValley people who were a bit darker complexioned in comparison. When the Aryans invaded India the inhabitants of IndusValley went deeper into India and became the Dravidians of south India. The Kasrwanis of Kashmir resemble the Aryans but they were not warriors but traders. Vedic texts mention the presence of “Panis” in India who taught the warrior Aryans how to build boats. The origin of the “Panis” can be traced to Paneas, a city in ancient Phoenicia. Archaeologists have found the presence of teak wood, which is native to south India, in Babylonian ruins. What these indicate is the likelihood that Kasrwanis came to settle in Kashmir and traded over the so-called Silk-route since ancient times.[6]

But from where did the Kasrwanis come over to settle in Kashmir? Here lies the clue to the word “Kasr”, for “Kasr” is not a thing but a place (in fact many places). There is Kasr in Ethiopia, Africa, but that is probably prehistoric. Many place names in Egypt have the prefix “Kasr”. For the purpose of identity formation the place one relates to has to have a major historical significance. Such a place is now what is known as the ruins of Kasr in Mesopotamia. Kasr was once the famous castle / palace of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) of Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Kasr texts / archives found from the Kasr mound illustrate about the Babylonian enterprise of Belesys. Moreover the Kassite dynasty that ruled over Babylon had their capital at a place called Kushshar till 1390 BC. Babylon is often referred to as Kasr in historical texts. This a strong evidence to imply that the Kasr-Wani means Traders of Babylon. [7] The ancient Kasrwanis were well aware that being traders who constantly move from place to place they face an identity crisis. To overcome such a problem they employed two methods. The first was to cater to their sense of autochthony. The Kasrwanis carried with them the soil of the place from where they migrated. Many Kasrwanis have in their possession pots of soil, which they worship as “Kul-devta / Deota”. If not defiled by the ravages of time, such pots might reveal, on proper examination, soils from many ancient lands.[8]

The second technique was a memory aid in the form of “Ban”. Each migrant Kasrwani family identified themselves with a place, or an event, or professional status, etc. and passed it on from generation to generation as a memory tryst. It is just like the religious identification with the sage Kashyap to form “Gotra”. The practice was widespread in the ancient world – for example the ancient Egyptians identified themselves in the form “House of X”. There were ninety six initial Bans belonging to the families who were the first Kasrwanis to come to settle permanently in Kashmir probably c. 539 BC. Later thirty three more families joined them in a second wave of migration (probably c. 522 BC) and they have their additional thirty three Bans. There are many Kasrwanis who do not have Bans. They are possibly the ones who came as soldiers when Alexander’s army invaded India (327 BC). Alexander went back but these soldiers stayed behind and since they did not come as traders they do not possess Bans.[9]

The purpose of Bans was to ensure that the Kasrwanis do not forget their origin. The concept of Bans is quite fascinating. Since each original migrant family has a particular Ban, even after thousands of years if two Kasrwani people, maybe from different parts of the world, meet and if they have the same Ban (“Ban-Gotia”) they can trace their origin as descendants of a singular family.so marriage in the same ban is prohibited. But the question arises, what does each Ban mean? Ban is not a meaningless appendage passed on for generation from ancient times. To decipher the Bans is a mammoth task of both philology and semantics. Linguistic comparison of Sumero-Akkadian language with Sanskrit can reveal much illuminating information in this regard. For example, the Ban “Barbies” is the Ban of the family that identified themselves with their professional status. It stands for “Bar-Vaish” which means “Big-Trader”. “Chandan Kath Kathauliya” is the Ban of the family based on their place of residence. It means “Canaan – a port in Carthage” where the family must have lived at some point in time. A Ban reminding of a particular event is “Kodaiya Ban Lade Maidan” which refers to the Battle of Kadesh in 1380(?) BC. The Ban “(Chausvar) Dhol Bagicha Bafedar” belongs to the family whose ancestors lived around Nebuchadnezzar’s HangingGardens of Babylon. The Ban "Sawan barse parate teen paat" has been deciphered as Sargon the great who ruled over Persia. Sargon's army was among the first to extensively use iron weapons in battles.Such is the decipherment of the Bans and it goes so on and so forth. Such is the decipherment of the Bans and it goes so on and so forth. It is quite a tragedy that many Kasrwanis of today are neglecting their Bans. If the trend continues then, probably, the world’s oldest surviving system of mnemonic knowledge will be lost forever.[10]

It is imperative to know one’s identity and origin. After coming out of the Neanderthal caves in Africa it was the Kasrwanis who were among the first to lead a civilized life. They were instrumental in establishing Hinduism as a religion by incorporating the various aspects of the religions of the ancient civilizations. They were responsible for the development of many languages and customs, and they pioneered the spread of knowledge in the ancient world. No doubt they traded in saffron along the ancient trade routes and ushered in the first phase of globalization. The marks left by them on the path of history are still evident. For example: the people of Iraq still use the name “Uday” which is very much a Kasrwani name, and the Arabic people still use the word “Qasr” to mean castle / palace echoing the ancient Kasr of Babylon. The Kasrwani historians, linguists, and philologists have to do a lot of independent research to corroborate the facts about their origin and identity. But as the community prospers, it has to learn to ask questions first.[11]

References:

Late Shri Khiran Chandra Shaha – writings on the margins / oral tradition.

The Dawn of Civilization – Egypt and Chaldaea. (1894) By G. Maspero (Ed. A. H. Sayce, Tr. From French M. L. McLure).

The Struggle of the Nations – Egypt , Syria , and Assyria . (1896) By G. Maspero (Ed. A. H. Sayce, Tr. From French M. L. McLure).

Hutchinsons ’ History of the Nations. (1920)

The Story of the Nations – Chaldaea. (1886) By Zenaide A. Ragozin.

The Story of the Nations – Assyria . (1887) By Zenaide A. Ragozin.

The Story of the Nations – Vedic India . (1895) By Zenaide A. Ragozin.

The Story of the Nations – Phoenicia . (1889) By George Rawlinson.

The Story of the Nations – Egypt . (1887) By George Rawlinson.

Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. (1926) By Drusilla Dunjee Houston.

A Study of History. (1995) By Arnold Toynbee.

Matthew W. Stolper’s study of Kasr texts / archives[12]

• Contested Historical Account of the Kesarwanis: http://creative.sulekha.com/origin-and-identity-of-kesarwani-kasarwani-kasrwani-an-outline-in-history_284546_blog

References[]

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