_Bania, Dhusar, Bhargava Dhusar._--The origin of this group is much
disputed. They are usually classed as a subcaste of Bania, but claim
to be Brahmans. They take their name from a hill called Dhusi or
Dhosi, near Narnaul on the border of Alwar State. The title Bhargava
signifies a descendant of Bhrigu, one of the famous eponymous Rishis
or Brahmanical saints, to whom Manu confided his institutes, calling
him his son. If this was their original name, it would show that they
were Brahmans, but its adoption appears to be somewhat recent. Their
claim to be Brahmans is, however, admitted by many members of that
caste, and it is stated that they perform the functions of Brahmans
in their original home in Rajputana. Mr. Burn wrote of them: [142]
"In his book on castes published in 1872 Mr. Sherring does not refer to
any claim to kinship with Brahmans, though in his description of Dhusar
Banias he appears to include the people under consideration. Both the
Dhusar Bhargavas and Dhusar Banias assert that Himu, the capable Vazir
of Muhammad Shah Suri, belonged to their community, and such a claim
by the former is if anything in favour of the view that they are not
Brahmans, since Himu is variously described by Muhammadan writers as
a corn-chandler, a weighman and a Bania. Colonel Dow in his history
of Hindustan calls him a shopkeeper who was raised by Sher Shah to be
Superintendent of Markets. It is not improbable that Himu's success
laid the foundation for a claim to a higher position, but the matter
does not admit of absolute proof, and I have therefore accepted the
decision of the majority of the caste-committees and considered them
as a caste allied to Brahmans." In the Punjab the Dhusars appear to be
in some places Brahmans and in others Banias. "They take their food
before morning prayer, contrary to the Hindu rule, but of late years
they have begun to conform to the orthodox practice. The Brahman
Dhusar marries with his caste-fellows and the Bania with Banias,
avoiding always the same family (_gotra_) or one having the same
family deity." [143] From the above accounts it would appear that
the Dhusars may have originally been a class of Brahmans who took
to trade, like the Palliwal Brahmans of Marwar, and have lost their
position as Brahmans and become amalgamated with the Bania caste;
or they may have been Banias, who acted as priests to others of the
community, and hence claimed to be Brahmans. The caste is important and
influential, and is now making every effort to recover or substantiate
its Brahman status. One writer states that they combine the office
aptitude and hard-heartedness to a debtor characteristic of the
Bania. The Dhusars are rigid in the maintenance of the purity of
their order and in the performance of Hindu ceremonies and duties,
and neither eat meat nor drink any kind of spirit. In Delhi they
were distinguished for their talent as singers, and cultivated a
peculiar strain or measure, in which they were unsurpassed. [144]
In the Central Provinces the Dhusars are a flourishing body, their
leaders being Rai Bahadur Bihari Lal Khizanchi of Jubbulpore and Rai
Sahib Seth Sundar Lal of Betul. They have founded the Bhargava bank
of Jubbulpore, and shown considerable public spirit; to the latter
gentleman's generosity a large part of the success of the recent
debt-conciliation proceedings in the Betul District must be attributed.