|A Goan Bania, early 1880s|
The Bania (otherwise known as Baniya, Vani and Vania) is an occupational community of merchants, bankers, money-lenders, dealers in grains or in spices, and in modern times numerous commercial enterprises. The term is used in a wider sense in Bengal than it is elsewhere in India, where it is applied to specific castes, such as the Agarwals, Baranwals, Maheshwaris, Oswals, and Porwals.
Bania is derived from the Sanskrit word vanij', which means merchant. In western India the caste is called Vani or Vania. Although in Bengal the term is applied to all people who are involved in moneylending and similar activities, elsewhere in India it is used in the more limited sense of referring to specific castes.
See also 
- Schrader, Heiko (1997). Changing financial landscapes in India and Indonesia: sociological aspects of monetization and market integration. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-8258-2641-3. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
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