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{{Short description|Bengali Hindu trading caste}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

'''Baishya Saha''' or '''Saha''', though not considered as [[Vaishya]] in the caste structure of Bengal, is a [[Bengali Hindu]] trading caste traditionally known to have the occupation of grocers, shopkeepers, dealers moneylenders and farming.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hashmi|first=Taj ul-Islam|title=Pakistan as a Peasant Utopia|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1992|isbn=978-0-367-28215-8|pages=35,43,105,109,111,112,148}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ganguly|first=Jibamitra|url=https://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/Megnad_Saha.pdf|title=Meghnad saha : his science and persona through selected letters and writings|publisher=INDIAN NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY|year=2019|isbn=978-81-939482-5-5|pages=12}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Saha |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Saha|access-date=2022-01-29|website=[[Banglapedia]]}}</ref>

== History and Origin ==
The name Saha (or Sadhu) is not found in 13th century works like the [[Brihaddharma Purana]].<ref name=":2" /> Before the seventh or the eighth centuries A.D. when historical evidences indicate that the society was based largely on trade and commerce, the merchant classes had a notably high position in the society. The low rank experienced by the Subarnabanik (gold merchants), [[Shunri]] (wine makers) , Teli (oil producers) and in later times also by the [[Gandhabanik]] (the dealers in spices), possibly indicate that the primary economic activities of the Bengali society shifted from trade and capital producing devices to cottage industries and agriculture. The caste ranks of the merchant classes became more and more lowered, and reached a decidedly low stage at the beginning of the Sena and Varman periods.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sarma|first=Jyotirmoyee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfE_AAAAMAAJ|title=Caste Dynamics Among the Bengali Hindus|date=1980|publisher=Firma KLM|isbn=978-0-8364-0633-7|pages=15|language=en}}</ref>

Sahas were originally [[Shunri|Shunris]](wine sellers), who were trying to break away from the parent caste.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sanyal|first=Hitesranjan|date=1971|title=Continuities of Social Mobility in Traditional and Modern Society in India: Two Case Studies of Caste Mobility in Bengal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2942917|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=30|issue=2|pages=315–339|doi=10.2307/2942917|jstor=2942917|issn=0021-9118}}</ref> Saha as a distinct sub-caste did not flourish in Bengal before the mid-nineteenth century.<ref name=":1" /> Shaha is a merchant caste like [[Suvarna Banik]], which has a low ceremonial rank , but high secular rank. As of 1921, Suvarnabaniks and Sahas had good literacy rate which was in the order mentioned.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sarma|first=Jyotirmoyee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfE_AAAAMAAJ|title=Caste Dynamics Among the Bengali Hindus|date=1980|publisher=Firma KLM|isbn=978-0-8364-0633-7|pages=107|language=en}}</ref>

== Varna Status ==
Traditionally there is no presence of Vaishya varna in Bengal but only Brahmin and Shudra. Sahas who belonged to the Shudra community started to claim [[Vaishya]] status in 1931 census report.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Chakrabarti|first1=Kunal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVOFAAAAQBAJ|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis|last2=Chakrabarti|first2=Shubhra|date=2013-08-22|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8024-5|pages=116|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=SIRCAR|first=D. C.|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12965|title=STUDIES IN THE SOCIETY AND ADMINISTRATION OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA VOL. 1|date=1959|publisher=FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, CALCUTTA|pages=115}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite report|title=The Tribes and Castes of West Bengal|last=Mitra|first=A.|date=1953|publisher=Land and Land Revenue Department, Government of West Bengal|page=34|series=Census 1951|chapter=SAHA, SUNRI}}</ref>

==See also==
[[Saha (surname)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Bengali Hindu people}}

[[Category:Bengali Hindu castes]]
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]]

{{India-ethno-stub}}

Baishya Saha - Revision history

UpdateBot at 04:08, 8 April 2022