About Vaishy

According to law code of Manu, the Brahmins were born from the mouth of Brahma, the Ksatriyas from his arms, the Vaishy were born from his navel, and the Sudras were born from his legs. In our Vedic society their duty was also accordingly i.e. the Brahminas provide advice on spiritual matters and are engaged in worship and sacrifice, Kshatriyas or warriors, who are likened to the arms of society and were responsible for the protection of society. Vaishy were likened to the belly of society and their duty was to ensure the community's prosperity through agriculture, cattle rearing and trade. For the sudras, who are likened to the legs of society, there is labor and service to others. Later, the Shudras took over agriculture and cattle rearing while the Vaishyas became traders and merchants.


Etymologically, the word Vaishy derives from the root vish "to settle" and denotes a man who "settles on the soil", i.e. a peasant. Although Vaishy was economically strong because they controlled commerce, still they were denied a high social status, for which they resented the upper castes. One expression of this resentment was their support of the anti-Brahminical sects that developed around the 6th century BC, like Buddhism and Jainism. Later, however, many influential Vaishyas were honoured with titles like 'Nagar Seth' (chief merchant of the town) and 'Tazimi Seth' (privileged to wear an anklet in the king's presence and in royal durbars).

Members of trading communities originate mostly from the West Coast and from Sind (in present-day Pakistan), are commonly known as Banias, a distortion of the Sanskrit word vanik meaning "trader". The Vaishy group from Sindh, Kashmir, were involved in Kesar (Saffron) business were known as Kesar-Vanik & later became Kesarwani.

It is fact that there is no Kesarwani (Vaishya) in Kashmir today, neither there is anything regarding Kesarwanies in Kashmir's History.

Later Vaishy divided into 7 major groups:

1. Khatri
2. Bohra
3. Oswal
4. Kayastha
5. Ahir
6. Agrawal
7. Bania

These groups usually do not intermarry.