_Bania, Agrahari._ [137]--This subcaste numbered nearly 2000 persons
in 1911, resident principally in Jubbulpore, Raipur and Bilaspur,
and some of the Feudatory States. Mr. Crooke states that they claim
partly a Vaishya and partly a Brahmanical descent, and wear the sacred
thread. Like that of the Agarwala Banias their name has been connected
with the cities of Agra and Agroha. There is no doubt that they are
closely connected with the Agarwalas, and Mr. Nesfield suggests that
the two groups must have been sections of one and the same caste
which quarrelled on some trifling matter connected with cooking or
eating, and have remained separate ever since. The Agrahari Banias
are Hindus, and some of them belong to the Nanakpanthi sect. They
are principally dealers in provisions, and they have acquired some
discredit as compared with their kinsfolk the Agarwalas, through
not secluding their women and allowing them to attend the shop. They
also retail various sweet-smelling woods which are used in religious
ceremonies, such as aloe-wood and sandalwood, besides a number of
medicines and simples. The richer members of the caste are bankers,
dealers in grain and pawnbrokers.