512 Journal of the Astatic Society of Bengal. [J^ily, 1907. 



settled in its original home, returns itseK nnder the caste name 

 only, e-g.j as Bratman only or as Banya only, without giving the 

 sub-caste name at all, so that it might seem as if the sub-caste 

 did not exist at all in the very place "which is known to be its 



chief centre. 



It is well-known that a very large proportion of the sub- 

 castes bear geographical names. It remains to consider whether 

 any of these names are derived from the names of historical 

 Hindu kingdoms. The following examples are enough to show 

 that the question deserves special study : 



Maithil^ the name of the Brahman sub-caste of North -Bihar, is 

 derived from the ancient kingdom of Mithila or Videba, well 

 known in the Brahmanasand in the Ramayana. 



Jijhotiya^ a Brahman sub-caste in Central India, takes its name 

 (as Gen. Cunningham pointed out) from Jijalcabhukti, the terri- 

 tory _of the Chandels of Mahoba. 



Agarwdl^ a strong Bania sub-caste in Upper India, has a 

 pseudo tiadition that Agra or Agroha was their original home, 

 but their true birthplace seems to be Agar in Eastern Malva, 

 which was well known as Akara about the Christian era, and is 

 named in inscriptions as a province alonjr with Avanti (Ujjain). 



KhedavSl is the name of a sub-caste of Brahmans and of 

 another of Banyas in Gujarat. Their birthplace is the chief 

 town of the British district of Kaira, which is mentioned in 

 inscriptions, and gave its name to a kingdom in Hiuen Thsang's 

 time (c. 640 a.d.)» 



Shrtmalt is the name of a sub-caste of Brahmans and of 

 another of Banyas in Marwar. It is derived from the town of 

 Shrimal of Bhinmal in Marwar, which was the capital of a king- 

 dom in Hiuen Thsang's time and long after {see Bo, Gaz. J, pt. i. 

 App. Bhinmal)- 



Lacl\H the name of a sub-caste of Banyas in Gujarat and parts 

 of the Deccan, It is derived froni tl»e ancient Lata (Ptolemy's 

 AapiKT]), the old name of Southern Gujarat. 



Sorathia is the name of a sub-caste of Brahmans and another 

 of Banyas in Kathiawad, the %vpaarp7]v7] of the Greeks and the 

 Saurashtra of the Guptas, 



Audhiya is the name of a sub-caste of Banyas who came 

 from Ayodhya the ancient capital of Rama's kingdom of Kosala. 



M^thur is the name of sub-castes of Brahmans, Kayasths, and 

 Banyas, wlio trace their origin to Mathura, the capital of the 

 S^uraserja kingdom. 



Shrivastav is the name of n sub-caste of Kayasths who are 

 supposed to have come from S^ravasti in Northern KoSala. 



SaJcsena is the name of another Kayasth section, who are 

 pposed to have come from Sankasya, the modern Sankisa. 



It will be noticed that, while some sub-castes take their 

 names from the kingdom, others take it from that of the capital 

 city. The latter is especially common in the case of the trading 

 and artisan classes. 



Another means of testing the correctness of the theory put 



