List of Baniyas

This is a partial list of notable/famous people from Baniya community.

Freedom fighters

Mahatma Gandhi

• Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), Indian independence activist. ^[1]
• Kasturba Gandhi (1869–1944), Wife of Mahatma Gandhi. ^[2]
• Karamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), - Father of Mahatma Gandhi. ^[1]
• Ram Manohar Lohia - Quit India Movement fame and General Secretary of Praja Socialist Party ^[3]
• Lala Lajpat Rai - Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as "Punjab Kesari" ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Arts

• Bhagwan Das, Bharat Ratna (India's highest civilian award) awardee ^[7]
• Sita Ram Goel, historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher in the late twentieth century ^[8]
• Bharatendu Harishchandra, Known as the "father of modern Hindi literature and Hindi theatre" ^[9]

Corporate and business

Technology and startups

• Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola Cabs and Ola Electric ^[10]

Other businesses

Dhirubhai Ambani.

• Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman, Reliance Industries ^[11]
• Jamnalal Bajaj, the adopted son of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the Bajaj Group of Industries ^[12]
• Lalbhai Dalpatbhai (1863–1912), Gujarati industrialist ^[13]
• Ramnath Goenka and family, Indian Express Limited ^[14]
• Walchand Hirachand (1882–1953), Indian industrialist and founder of Walchand group ^[15]
• Seth Hukumchand (1874–1959), Indian industrialist ^[16]
• Khushalchand Jhaveri (1680–1748), Indian jeweller and financier ^[17]
• Shantidas Jhaveri (1584–1659), Indian jeweller, bullion trader, and moneylender ^[18]
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Indian billionaire investor, stock trader, and Chartered Accountant, founder of Akasa Air ^[19]
• Premchand Roychand (1832–1906), 19th century Indian businessman and founder of Bombay Stock Exchange ^[20]
• Sarabhai family, a prominent Business family ^[21]
• Jagat Seth family, merchant, banker and money lender family in Bengal ^[22]

Politics and activists

Activists

• Sir Ganga Ram Agrawal, civil engineer and architect known as "the father of modern-day Lahore" ^[23]

India

• Rekha Gupta, Politician, Chief Minister of Delhi ^[24]
• Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi ^[25]
• Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Co-operation, Member of Parliament (MP), President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), chairman of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly, Minister of State, Government of Gujarat ^[26]

See also

• Agrawal Jain

References

1. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber; Rudolph, Lloyd I. (2009-04-08). Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma. University of Chicago Press. p. 17. ISBN   978-0-226-22760-3.
2. Gandhi, Arun and Sunanda (1998). The Forgotten Woman. Huntsville, AR: Zark Mountain Publishers. p. 314. ISBN   1-886940-02-9.
3. "Vaishyas find caste icon in Lohia". The Telegraph . 12 October 2003. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
4. "Remembering India's freedom fighters: Lala Lajpat Rai". India TV News. 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
5. "Sub Division, Jagraon, Punjab". www.jagraonadministration.in. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
6. "Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
7. John Gallagher; Gordon Johnson; Anil Seal (1973). Locality, Province and Nation: Essays on Indian Politics 1870 to 1940. CUP Archive. pp. 45–. ISBN   978-0-521-09811-3.
8. "'How I Became Hindu' by Sita Ram Goel – Chapter 9(d): Nightmare Of Nehruism". hindupost.in. Archived from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
9. "Remembering Bharatendu Harishchandra on Hindi Divas, a man whose work fortified the language". Firstpost. 14 September 2019.
10. World, Rest of (2025-05-06). "Who is Bhavish Aggarwal, the Indian EV founder compared to Elon Musk?". Rest of World. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
11. Rowley, Chris; Rama, Marie dela (3 May 2017). The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges. Elsevier. p. 210. ISBN   978-0-08-101230-7.
12. Parvate, T. V. (1960). Jamnalal Bajaj [A brief study of his life and character] (1st ed.). Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House. p. 5.
13. Sheth, Sudev (2024). Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 6, 296. ISBN   9781009330268.
14. Rozario, Joseph (2015-12-12). "The indomitable baron of the fourth estate". Marwar India Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
15. Damodaran, Harish (2018). India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation. Hachette. ISBN   978-93-5195-280-0.
16. Markovits, Claude (1985). Indian Business and Nationalist Politics 1931-1939: The indigenous capitalist class and the rise of the Congress Party. Cambridge University Press. p. 32.
17. Sheth, Sudev (2023-11-30). Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-009-33026-8.
18. Sheth, Sudev (2024). Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 6, 296. ISBN   9781009330268.
19. Chakraborty, Debarati (2016-05-25). "Moving Markets". Marwar India Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
20. Subramanian, Lakshmi (15 January 2016). Three Merchants of Bombay. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN   9788184757217.
21. Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947. Oxford University Press. 1992. p. 44. ISBN   978-0-19-562806-7. The Sarabhais and the Lalbhais, the town's two most prominent entrepreneurial families, were Jain Banias prominent as shroffs.
22. Ray, Aniruddha (2017). Towns and Cities of Medieval India. Routledge. p. 508.
23. "Sir Ganga Ram: The pride of Lahore | Pakistan Today".
24. 'I Am A Baniya Mukhya Mantri, I Know How To Spend Money,' Says Rekha Gupta #rekhagupta #delhicm . Retrieved 2025-11-05– via www.youtube.com.
25. ""I Am Baniya, Will Arrange Money For All Schemes": Arvind Kejriwal". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 2025-05-20. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
26. "'बनिये का बेटा हूं हिसाब देना आता है', सीतमढ़ी में अमित शाह ने राहुल गांधी पर कसा तंज - amit shah son of baniya knows how to account retaliation to pakistan". Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 2025-11-05.