The Oswal (sometimes spelled Oshwal or Osval) are a Śvetāmbara Jain-majority community with origins in Osian, a town in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India.[1][2] They claim to be of Rajput descent.[3] The Osavālas origin legend has multiple aspects, all of which include a fierce, meat-eating goddess who becomes pacified by a Jain ascetic, involving the conversion of a king to Jainism. In modern times, there are barely any Osavālas living in Osiyān, but they still regard the Mahavira temple and Sachiya Mata Temple as their "mother temples".[4]
They were formerly also found in the Tharparkar district of Sindh (pre-partition).
Notable people
edit- Jhaveri family
- Shantidas Jhaveri (1584–1659), jeweller, bullion trader, and moneylender[5]
- Khushalchand Jhaveri (1680–1748), jeweller and financier[6]
- Lalbhai Dalpatbhai (1863-1912), industrialist[5]
- Jagat Seth family, merchant, banking, and moneylender family in Bengal[7]
References
edit- ^ Babb, Lawrence A. (2004). Alchemies of Violence: Myths of Identity and the Life of Trade in Western India. SAGE. pp. 164–178. ISBN 9780761932239.
- ^ Sangave, Vilas Adinath (1980) [1959]. Jain Community: A Social Survey. Popular Prakashan. pp. 83–88.
- ^ Harlan, Lindsey (2003). The Goddesses' Henchmen: Gender in Indian Hero Worship. Oxford University Press. p. 66.
- ^ Pániker, Agustín (2010). Jainism: History, Society, Philosophy, and Practice. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 309–310.
- ^ a b Sheth, Sudev (2024). Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 6, 296. ISBN 9781009330268.
- ^ Sheth, Sudev (2024). Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press. p. 6.
- ^ Gopal, Surendra (2019). Jains in India: History Essays. Routledge.