Agrawal

Agrawal (Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal, Agarawala, or Aggrawal) is a Bania Vaishya caste. The Banias of northern India are a cluster of several communities. They are found throughout northern India, mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. They are also found in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh, though at the time of the partition of India, most of them migrated across the newly created border to independent India. Most Agrawals follow Vaishnava Hinduism or Jainism, while a minority adhere to Islam or Christianity. The Agrawal are the descendants of Maharaja Agrasen (b. 4250 or 3082 BCE), a Kshatriya king of the Agroha Kingdom. He is claimed to have been one of the descendants of the Hindu deity Rama. Their primary goddess was Lakshmi Mahalaxmi, who blessed the king and his descendants to be prosperous always by her and her consort God Vishnu's kindness. Maharaja Agrasen himself adopted the Vaishya tradition of Hinduism. The Agrawal are Suryavamsha and belong to the Raghuvamsha house. The Agrawal are also known for their entrepreneurship and business acumen. In modern-day tech and e-commerce companies, they continue to dominate. It was reported in 2013, that for every 100 rupees in funding for e-commerce companies in India, 40 went to firms founded by Agrawals.