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Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.
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Saraswat Brahmins are Hindu Brahmins, who are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara and Kerala in South India. The word Saraswat is derived from the Rigvedic Sarasvati River.
Mappila Muslim, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same name found predominantly in Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands, in southern India. Muslims of Kerala make up 26.56% of the population of the state (2011), and as a religious group they are the second largest group after Hindus (54.73%). Mappilas share the common language of Malayalam with the other religious communities of Kerala.
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Arora is a community of Punjab, comprising both Hindus and Sikhs. The name is derived from their native place Aror. In 712, the Arora people left Aror and started to settle in the cities of Punjab.
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Sunni Vohras or Sunni Bohras, are a community from the state of Gujarat in India. Sharing the same name as the Dawoodi Bohras, they are often confused with that community. A few families use the slightly different spelling of "Vora" or "Vahora" as their surname. Another common surname is Patel.
Many Armenian merchants from Amsterdam went to Southeast Asia in the 19th century to trade, and to set up factories and plantations. Armenian merchants settled in parts of Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies, as did Armenians moving east from the Persian Empire, establishing a community of Armenians in Java.
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Bania is a Vaishya caste mainly from the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, with strong diasporic communities in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and other northern states. Traditionally, the main occupations of the community are merchants, bankers, money-lenders, and owners of commercial enterprises.
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The Armenians in Bangladesh were ethnic Armenians who lived in what is now called Bangladesh. Their numbers have gradually diminished and there are now no Armenians in the country.
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The Komati is a Telugu-speaking trading community that is currently organised as a caste. They are primarily found in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and in smaller numbers in neighbouring states. The members of the Komati caste are commonly engaged as moneylenders, businessmen, and shopkeepers. The community consists of many sects who are followers of Hinduism, namely the Gomata, the Thrivarnika, and the Kalinga, along with the Jaina Komatis who are followers of Jainism. Traditionally, most Komatis are vegetarian due to their belief in ahimsa (nonviolence).
References
- ↑ Habib, Irfan (1990). "Merchant Communities in Precolonial India". In Tracy, James D. (ed.). The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long-Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750. Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–99. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511563089. ISBN 978-0-52145-735-4.