The Banias are divided into a large number of endogamous groups or
subcastes, of which the most important have been treated in the
annexed subordinate articles. The minor subcastes, mainly formed
by migration, vary greatly in different provinces. Colonel Tod gave
a list of eighty-four in Rajputana, of which eight or ten only can
be identified in the Central Provinces, and of thirty mentioned by
Bhattacharya as the most common groups in northern India, about a third
are unknown in the Central Provinces. The origin of such subcastes
has already been explained. The main subcastes may be classified
roughly into groups coming from Rajputana, Bundelkhand and the United
Provinces. The leading Rajputana groups are the Oswal, Maheshri,
Khandelwal, Saitwal, Srimal and Jaiswaal. These groups are commonly
known as Marwari Bania or simply Marwari. The Bundelkhand or Central
India subcastes are the Gahoi, Golapurab, Asati, Umre and Parwar;
[127] while the Agarwal, Dhusar, Agrahari, Ajudhiabasi and others
come from the United Provinces. The Lad subcaste is from Gujarat,
while the Lingayats originally belonged to the Telugu and Canarese
country. Several of the subcastes coming from the same locality will
take food cooked without water from each other, and occasionally two
subcastes, as the Oswal and Khandelwal, even food cooked with water or
_katchi_. This practice is seldom found in other good castes. It is
probably due to the fact that the rules about food are less strictly
observed in Rajputana.