INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

should ideally marry outside his or her got but within any of the approved zat to
which one belongs.
The most dominant and leading social group or zat in the Sikh community is
undoubtedly the Jats who claim to be nomads that at some point in history settled in
the Punjab. 138 The Jats became influential agriculturalists and landowners, holding
major areas of land in the Punjab, and embraced the Sikh religion in an early phase.
In the Census 1881 no less than 66 percent of all Sikhs in the Punjab were estimated to
be Jats whereas the mercantile castes of Khatris and Aroras amounted to less than 2.5
percent each of the total Sikh population. 139 Today the Jats are still in majority and the
dominant political power in the Punjab. In Varanasi, however, the demographical
figures are somewhat different, with Khatri Sikhs constituting the main body of the
local community. “Most people here belong to Khatri”, a granthi said. A list of prominent
members of the gurdwara committee (VGPC) and other leading families will
promptly confirm this dominance: Bagga, Bedi, Bhatra, Dua, Kapoor, Kohli, Nirula,
Sabharwal, Sethi, Saluja, Thappar, to mentioned a few, are got names of families who
claim Khatri status. Other Punjabi castes such as Rajput, Jat, Brahman, and especially
business communities like Arora and Ahluwalia are represented and active in the
communal life, but they are in the minority. 140 The reason for this demographical
situation can be found in the traditional occupations of Khatri Sikhs and the attraction
of Varanasi as a pilgrimage and trading centre.
The Khatris were numerous in the West and North Western areas of the Punjab
before the partition in 1947 and commerce led them to distant parts of India and beyond.
The highway Grand Trunk Road (earlier attributed to Sher Shah) which ran
from Peshwar in the west and passed by Varanasi on its way eastwards, apparently
made it easier for Punjabi merchants to establish business connections in the Gangetic
lands. 141 In the eighteenth century Varanasi developed into a leading centre of trade
under the British administration and attracted Khatri traders, bankers and money
lenders from the Punjab and other regions. The city acquired financial influence and
became reputed for its mercantile life, especially the trade in cloth, raw silk, and precious
metals. 142 As I was told, Khatri and Baniya Sikhs from the Punjab and other
parts of the country early established business contacts with Varanasi. After the partition
in 1947 these contacts accelerated and brought about settlements in the city.
138
A popular theory traces the origin of the Jats to the Scythian culture and proposes they settled
in the Punjab between 300 B.C. and A.D. 200 (see K.S. Singh 2003: 226).
139
McLeod 1976: 93.
140
The caste-based association Rajput Baradari (brotherhood) in Varanasi has sponsored gurdwara
constructions and today assumed responsibility for the seva of cleaning roads in processions
of Guru Granth Sahib during Sikh festivals.
141
The Sikh gurdwara near the railway junction Mogul Sarai, just outside Varanasi, is named
Grand Trank Road Gurdwara after the highway which is passing by. In 1862 the railway link
between Varanasi and Mogul Sarai facilitated new communication.
142
Mishra 1975: 4, 170, Parkash 1981: 25, Banerjee 2003: 76, note 10.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008