Agrawal

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Agarwals (also Aggarwal or Agrewal) are a powerful and influential business and warrior class community in Northern India. The Agarwal population is about four million^[1].

Contents 1 Agroha, the original center of Agarwals 2 Origin of the Agarwal Dynasty 3 Mythology 4 Chronological history 4.1 Early history 4.2 Muslim period 4.3 British period 5 Agrawals today 6 Gotras 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Agroha, the original center of Agarwals

King Agrasen had set out to travel all over India to look for a suitable site to establish his new kingdom. At one place, he found a few tiger cubs and wolf cubs playing together. This indicated to Agrasen and Madhavi, his wife, that this was a 'veerbhoomi' (the Land of the Brave). They decided to establish their capital city at that place. Thus Agroha came into being, about 51 years before the Mahabharata war, near present day Hissar in Haryana. Under the leadership of Maharaja Agrasen, Agroha became very prosperous. It continued to grow in later years and legend has it that a hundred thousand traders lived in the city in its heydays. An insolvent community man as well as an immigrant wishing to settle in the city would be given a rupee and a brick by each inhabitant of the city. Thus, he would have a hundred thousand bricks to build a house for himself, and a hundred thousand rupees to start a new business.

The name Agrewal, Agrawal, Agarwal, Agarwala, Aggarwal (and various other English spellings) is derived from the word Agroha (Sanskrit Agrotaka), the original center of the Agarwals, which is near Hissar in Haryana. From the Hissar region, Agrawal descendants had migrated mostly to modern day Punjab and Rajasthan(Rajputana region) some few thousand years ago, while a proportion also migrated to Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh. Those living in Shekhawati region in Rajasthan are generally known as Marwari.

[edit] Origin of the Agarwal Dynasty

The account of Maharaja Agrasen is given by the famous Hindi author Bharatendu Harishchandra in his "Agrawalon ki Utpatti", published in 1871^[2]. It is based on an account in a "Mahalaksmi Vrat Katha" manuscript.^[3]. Emperor Agrasen was a renowned Kshatriya leader and a Suryavanshi (lineage from the Sun) born during the last stages of Dwapar Yuga. From Emperor Agrasen arose the Agarwal people. Maharaj Agrasen had fathered 18 children. From these eighteen children started the eighteen gotras of the Agrawals. The Emperor was an icon of non-violence, messenger of peace, an embodiment of Sacrifice, Compassion, Prosperity and a True Socialist. Emperor Agrasen was born to King Ballabh of Pratapnagar. He was the eldest son. According to the Mahalakshmi Vrath, the age then was the last stages of Dvaapar Yug. According to current calendar the birth of Maharaj Agrasen took place about 5185 years ago. King Ballabh was a Suryavamshi (lineage from the Sun). Even when he was very young, Prince Agrasen was very well known for his compassion. He never discriminated against anyone and the subjects were very pleased with the way he conducted himself.

According to Vachanakosha of Bulakhichand (1680AD), Agar Rishi married a naga-kanya and had 18 children ^[4]. A similar account is given in 1885 Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, Rishi Agrasen married 17 naga-kanyas.^[5].

[edit] Mythology

Agarwals are the sons of Maharaja Agrasen, who was the Suryavanshi, or Solar Race, king. Agrasen was blessed by the goddess Mahalakshmi, and suggested that he take up the Vaishya tradition of business for the sake of the prosperity of his people. She then asked him to found a new kingdom, and promised that she would bless his descendants with prosperity and wealth that can be use for good deeds.

When Agrasen became a young man, he attended the Swayamvara of the daughter of the King Nagaraj; Princess Madhavi. Many kings from around the world attended, including Indra, the King of the Devas. In the Swayamvara, Princess Madhavi selected Prince Agrasen by putting the garland on him. This marriage caused a coming together of two different family cultures; Prince Agrasen was a Suryavanshi and Princess Madhavi was a Naagavanshi.

Indra had been smitten by the beauty of Princess Madhavi and had planned to get married to her. However, now that he was unable to marry her, he became very jealous and angry with Agrasen. To attain revenge against Agrasen, Indra made sure that Pratap Nagar did not receive any rainfall. As a result, a frightening famine struck the Pratap Nagar kingdom.

Emperor Agrasen then waged war against Indra, a dharamyud, whereupon his army vanquished Indra's forces and put them to flight. Faced with this situation, Indra approached Narada (the celestial sage) for mediation between himself and Emperor Agrasen. Narada then mediated a peace between them.

Agrasen started a severe penance to propitiate Lord Shiva in the city of Kashi. Pleased with the penance of Agrasen, Lord Shiva appeared and advised him to propitiate Goddess Mahalakshmi. Maharaj Agrasen again started meditating on Goddess Mahalakshmi, who appeared before him. Goddess Mahalakshmi then blessed Agrasen and suggested that he take up the Vaishya tradition of business for the sake of prosperity of his people. She then asked him to found a new kingdom, and promised that she would bless his descendants with prosperity.

Birth Of Agroha city-

With the blessings of Goddess Mahalakhmi, King Agrasen travelled all over India with the Queen to select a place for a new kingdom. At one point during his travels, he found a few tiger cubs and wolfs cubs playing together. To King Agrasen and Queen Madhavi, this was an auspicious indication that the area was Veerabhoomi (land of the brave) and they decided to found their new kingdom at that location named Agroha.

Agroha became prosperous as agriculture and trade flourished. Maharaj Agrasen performed many Yagnas (sacrifices) for the prosperity of his people. In those days, performing a yagna was a symbol of prosperity. During one such yagna, Maharaj Agrasen noticed that a horse that had been brought to be sacrificed was trying hard to get away from the sacrificial altar. Seeing this Maharaj Agrasen was filled with pity and then thought as to what prosperity can be achieved by sacrificing mute animals.

The idea of Ahimsa grabbed Maharaj Agrasen's mind. The King then discussed it with his ministers. The ministers then said if Maharaj Agrasen turned towards Ahimsa, the neighbouring kingdoms might consider it a sign of weakness and feel brave enough to attack Agroha. At this, Maharaj Agrasen mentioned that putting an end to violence and injustice does not mean weakness. He then proclaimed that there should be no violence and killing of animals in his kingdom.

Maharaj Agrasen proceeded to conduct 18 Maha Yagnas. He then divided his kingdom among his 18 children, and established the 18 Gotras after the gurus of each of his children. These same 18 Gotras today are like the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavadgita; even though they are different from each other, they are still related to each other to form the whole. Under this arrangement, Agroha prospered very well and flourished.

In the latter part of his life, Maharaj Agrasen nominated his eldest son Vibhu to the throne and took up the Vanaprasth Ashram. The prosperity of Agroha caused jealousy in many of the neighbouring kingdoms, and they frequently attacked it. Because of these aggressions, Agroha had to face numerous problems.

In due course, the strength of Agroha was sapped. A huge fire engulfed the city of Agroha. Because of the fire, the citizens of the city fled and dispersed into various areas of Bharat. Today, these same people are known as Aggarwals and still have the same 18 Gotras that was given to them from their gurus and carry on the fame of Maharaj Agrasen. As per Maharaj Agrasen's guidance the Aggarwals are in the forefront of social service.

[edit] Chronological history

[edit] Early history

The town of Agroha flourished through the Maurya, Kushana, Yaudheya, and Tomara periods. Agrawal merchant Nattal Sahu and the first Agrawal poet Vibudh Shridhar lived during the rule of Tomara Anangapal of Yoginipur (now Mahrauli, near Delhi). ^[6]. He write Pasanahacariu in 1132 AD, which includes a historical account of Delhi then.

[edit] Muslim period

Agroha survived when Hansi was conquered by Turks in the 10th century, but was overrun by Ghori.

In 1354, Feroze Shah founded Hisar near Agroha, and Hisar became a main center of the Agrawals. A Bhattaraka institution belonging to the Kashtha Sangh order, based in Hisar had branches in Gwalior and Delhi. During the rule of the Sultans, some of the Agrawals were able to obtain permission to build temples and the like.

In early 15th century Agrawals flourished under the Tomars of Gwalior. Many of them became very wealthy and supported carving of idols, and composition of literature.

During the Mughal rule, a few Agrawals were able to secure influential positions in the Mughal court. In 1712, Lala Ratan Chand, originator of Rajvanshi section, was executed because of his involvement in the power struggle.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] British period

Under British rule, a well known freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai was one of the prominent Agrawals to sacrifice his life in the struggle for freedom. He was known as Punjab Kesari, or the Lion of the Punjab. He was a key mentor of nationalists like Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad.

Agrawals became heavily involved in Swadeshi movements (Struggle for Indian Independence) and established major houses like Dalmia-Jain, Bajaj, Singhania etc. Bharatendu Harishchandra was responsible for establishing Hindi as India's national language, and wrote the first history of the Aggarwal community.

Late during the Mughal rule, and during the British East India Company administration, some Agrawals migrated to Bihar and Calcutta, who became the major component of the Marwaris.

[edit] Agrawals today

Agrawals (Garg,Gupta, Goyal, Bansal, Jain, Mittal, Jindal, Singhal and so forth) have perhaps the most renowned family name in modern India. It's lineage can be traced back in ancient, holy scriptures such as Puranas and Mahabharata. A warrior class society turned, out of compassion, into now a sub-caste of the great 'Baniya' community caste br />

Known for their business acumen among the local population, the Baniyas take the credit for their grandeur in business, religiosity, morality and cultural values, contribution to social work and wealth - the most extravagant marriage of the century was hosted by the steel baron Lakshmi N. Mittal, according to Forbes magazine.

Some of the richest Indians, like Lakshmi Mittal of Mittal steel, Kuldeep Aggarwal and Ashok Aggarwal of RJS Group, Ltd., Subhash Chandra of Zee TV, Sunil Mittal of Bharti Telecom, Naresh Goyal (Jet Airways) and Sajjan Jindal (Jindal Iron & Steel Company Ltd), are Agarwals.

Some other agarwal names are Bagla (Bhagwandas Bagla was the first marwari millionaire of India ),Tibrewala, Mawandia, Parasrampuria, and Beriwala.

[edit] Gotras

The names associated with these original Clans/Gotras (and variations thereof) are the surnames of the Agarwal community today: Mittal, Bansal, Singhal, Jindal, Jain, Kansal, Airan, Tingal, Bindal, Garg^{[citation needed]}, Goyal, Goyan, Mangal, Dharan, Madhukul, Tayal, Bhandal, Kucchal and Naagil. All eighteen of these names are synonymous with the Agarwal surname^{[citation needed]}.

Gotra	Original Gotra	Lord	Saint (Guru)	Veda	Branch	Sutra
Bansal	Vatsya	Virbhan	Vishist/Vatsa	Samaveda	Kouthmi/Kauttham	Gobhil
Mittal	Maitreya	Mantrapati	Vishwamitra/Maitreya	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Singhal	Shandalya	Sindhupati	Shringi/Shandilya	Samaveda	Koyumi/Kauttham	Gobhil
Jindal	Gemino	Jaitrasangh	Bruhaspati/Jaimini	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Kansal	Kaushik	Manipal	Kaushik	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Airan/Aeron	Aurva	Indramal	Atri/Aaurva	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Tingal/Tunghal	Taandav	Tambolkarna	Shandilya/Tandya	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Bindal/Vindal	Vishist	Vrinddev	Yavasya/Vashista	Yajurveda	Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Garg/Gargeya	Gargasya	Pushpadev	Gargacharya or Garg	Yajurveda	Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Goyal	Gomil	Gendumal	Gautam/Gobhil	Yajurveda	Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Goyan/Goin/Goyanor/Gangal	Gautan	Godhar	Purohit/Gautam	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Mangal	Maandav	Amritsen	Mudragal/Mandavya	Rigveda/Yajurveda	Sakalya	Asusai
Dharan/Deran	Dhanyas	Dhavandev	Bhekaar/Ghaumya	Yajurveda	Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Madhukul/Mudgal	Mudgal	Madhavsen	Aashvalayan/Mudgal	Rigveda/Yajurveda	Saalaya/Sakalya	Aslayin
Tayal	Taitireya	Tarachand	Saakal/Taitireya	Yajurveda/Kri	Madhyadini/Aausthambh	Kaatyayni
Bhandal	Dhoumya	Vasudev	Bhardwaj	Yajurveda	Madhyadini/Madhuri	Kaatyayni
Kuchhal/Kachal/Kuchchal	Kashyap	Karanchand	Kush/Kashyap	Samaveda	Kosami/Kauttham	Komaal
Naagil/Nangal/Nagal	Naagend	Narsev	Kaudalya/Nagendra	Samaveda	Kouthmi/Kauttham	Aslayin

[edit] See also

• Forward Castes
• http://www.agarwal.org - Official website of Agarwal/ Agrawal/ Aggarwal Communities Worldwide
• http://www.aggarwals.com - Free portal for meeting, learning, and sharing with all Aggarwals, Agarwals, Agrawals

[edit] References

1. ^ Agrawal population was 2,718,390 or 0.4% of India, according to 1911 census. Extrapolating yields an estimate of about four million
2. ^ Bharatendu Harishchandra, Agrawalon ki Utpatti, 1871, reprinted in Hemant Sarma, Bharatendu Samgrah, Varanasi, Hindi Pracharak Samsthan, 1989.
3. ^ The text from the manuscript is given in Satyaketu Vidyalankar, Agrwal Jati Ka Prachin Itihas, Masuri, Shri Sarasvati Sada, 1976
4. ^ Kavivar Bulakhichand, Kasturchand Kasliwal, Jaipur, 1983
5. ^ Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, 1885, page 262-263
6. ^ An Early Attestation of the Toponym Ḍhillī, by Richard J. Cohen, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1989, p. 513-519

• "Agrasen Agroha Agrawal", by Dr. Swarajya Mani Agrawal
• "Agrawal Jati Ka praachin Itihaas" by Satyaketu Vidyalankar
• ""Punjab govt. Gazetter,
• "Agrawal Vansh Kaumudi",
• "Lakshmi purana - Ch.:'Bhavishyapurana',
• "Vishnu Agrasen Vansh Purana",
• "Agroha" by Rajaram SHASTRI,
• "Excavation of Agroha, Punjab" by H.L. Srivastava,
• "Agrawal Vaishyotpatti Tatha Agroha ka Vishad virnan" by Pt. Chhajju Ram,
• "Agrawal Jaati ka Sachitra Itihas" by Champat Rai,
• "Agravansh" by Dr. Ram Chandra Gupta,
• "Agravansh ki Utpatti" by Harish Chandra,
• "Agrawal Jaati Ka Vikas" by Parmeshwari Lal Gupta'
• "Agrasen Aur Agrawal" by Vaidya Kripa Ram Agrawal,
• "Agrawal Utpatti" by Ramchandra