Roniaur

The Rauniyar is a Hindu caste mostly found in India and Nepal. They are also known as Rauniyar, Roniyar, and Roniaur, they use Rauniyar, Gupta, Mahajan, Sah, Shah, Anand, Ranjan, Kashyap, Rauniwal as their surnames.The Roniaur is a sub-group within the Bania community

India

In India, the Rauniyar call themselves as Namnihar. They claim to have come from Awadh some three hundred years ago. They are found throughout Magadh, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran, Munger, Bhagalpur, Nawada, Gaya , Tamkuhi Raj and Odisha. Their common surnames are Shaw, Sah, Shah, Gupta, Keshri and Rauniyar also. They are strictly endogamous and practice clan exogamy. The Roniaur speak Maithili in northeast Uttar Pradesh, Bhojpuri in western Bihar and commonly speak Hindi.[1]

Present circumstances

The Rauniyar are divided into three territorial groupings, the Purbia, Panchnaha and Bail Kuchnaha. Marriages within each of these groups aren't a common practice. They are further divided into several exogamous clans. Their traditional occupation has been in the business of textiles and food grains. A few Rauniyar are jagirdars, but they rarely ever cultivated their own land, depending on sharecroppers. Their customs are similar to other Awadh Bania, such as the Omar.[2]

The Rauniyar can be found as traders, landowners, entrepreneurs, large-scale business owners, consultants, and shopkeepers. Many used to be substantial jagirdars, but the land reforms carried out after independence in 1947 and seen a break up of the larger estates. Like other Bania communities, they are undergoing urbanization. Many rural Raniaur are village shopkeepers and money lenders. They have a statewide caste association, the Raniaur Mahasabha, which acts both as an instrument of social control as well as a communal welfare association.[1]

Nepal

In Nepal, the Rauniyar or Roniaur live in Terai region mainly in Eastern Part, however, they are also found in other Terai regions as well as the Indra Chowk area of Kathmandu. They use Gupta, Shah, Sah or simply Rauniyar as their surname. Most of the Rauniyars who are Nepalese citizens do not change their surname. Various clans in the community don't necessarily share common beliefs. They speak Nepali, Bhojpuri and Maithili. Their main occupations are Business, jagirdar and are involved in different Jobs in various sectors.


References
  1. People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 817 to 820 Seagull Books
  2. People of India: Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1224 to 1228 Manohar Publications
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