India's Agrawal community: Its history and prominent personalities

New Delhi: The Agrawals, who belong to the large Vaishya community, are found in almost every part of India. They are also known as Banias because of their occupation. The term `Vaishya` is very comprehensive and covers several business communities such as the Agrawal, Maheshwari, Khandelwal, Oswal, Jaiswal, Poswal, Dasse and Mahajan. Of these, the Agrawal is by far the largest community. The name Agrawal or Aggarwal is derived from the Agragan state said to be founded by Maharaja Agrasen some 5000 years ago. Most Agrawals follow Hinduism, although some are Jains. The texts and legends of the Agrawal community trace the origin of Agrawals to the legendary king Agrasena of the Solar Dynasty who adopted Vanika dharma. Literally, Agrawal means the "children of Agrasena" or the "people of Agroha", a city in ancient Kuru Panchala, near Hisar in Haryana region said to be founded by Agrasena. Several large business organizations were founded by members of the Agarwal community — such as Bharti Airtel, ArcelorMittal, and The Times Group. The Agrawal merchant Nattal Sahu, and the Agrawal poet Vibudh Shridhar lived during the reign of the Tomara King Anangapal of Yoginipur (now Mehrauli, near Delhi). Vibudh Shridhar wrote Pasanahacariu in 1132 AD, which includes a historical account of Yoginipur (early Delhi near Mehrauli). In 1354, Firuz Shah Tughluq had started the construction of a new city near Agroha, called Hisar-e-Feroza (the fort of Firuz). Most of the raw material for building the town was brought from Agroha. The town later came to be called Hisar. Hisar became a major center of the Agrawal community. Later, during the Mughal rule, and during the British East India Company administration, some Agrawals migrated to Bihar and Kolkata, who became the major component of the Marwaris. The Mughals were relatively liberal, and some Agrawals rose to prominent positions in this period. Sahu Todar Mal was a supervisor of the royal mint at Agra, who had rebuilt the 514 Jain stupas at Mathura in 1573, during the rule of Akbar. Sah Ranveer Singh was a royal treasurer during the rule of Akbar. He was awarded a jagir in western UP, where he established the town Saharanpur. His father as well as son and grandson had built several Jain temples, including the one at Kucha Sukhanand in Delhi. In Delhi, in the walled city, many Agrawals were allocated lands on the north side of Chandni Chowk. In 1656, the Agrawals built a temple in a tent in the Urdu Bazar, now known as Lal Mandir. Raja Harsukh Rai built the first temple with a shikhar (Naya Mandir) in Dharampura in 1807. Lala Ratan Chand became the diwan of Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar (1713–1719) in 1712, and was given the title of Raja. He was associated with the Saiyid Brothers, who served as the king makers for several years, and became involved in the court intrigues. He was executed during the battle of Hasanpur by the order of the new emperor Muhammad Shah (1719–1748) in 1719. He became the founder of the Rajvanshi Agrawals. Ramji Das Gurwala was a major banker who had both loaned and donated funds to Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar during the 1857 rebellion. He was later executed by the British. His family later founded Delhi Cloth Mills. Agrawals are among the most influential and prosperous communities and have one of the largest shares of people with net worth in billions of dollars. Agrawals are present almost all over in the world and contribute a large account to world economy in terms of Business. Notable personalities of the community: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, born 15 June 1950, is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaking company. Mittal is the richest man living in Europe and the richest man with an Asian nationality. Despite being the wealthiest man in Britain, he does not hold British citizenship.He was ranked the sixth richest person in the world by Forbes in 2011, but dropped to 21st place in 2012, due to having lost $10.4 billion the previous year. Anil Agrawal: Anil Agarwal, born 1954, Patna, Bihar, is an Indian businessman and the founder and Executive Chairman of the United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources Corporation. Agarwal founded Sterlite Industries, a business operating in the industrial sector in 1976 and then in 1986 established Vedanta Resources bringing together a variety of businesses owned by the Agarwal family. Having ranked eighth in 2003, as of March 2012, Agarwal is the 15th richest Indian. Agarwal lives in London and is married, with two children.Medieval period: Nattal Sahu, merchant prince during the rule of Tomar Anangapal and patron of Vibudh Shridhar Sahu Todar, supervisor of royal mint and patron of scholars Ramji Das Gurwala, who donated large sums of money to Bahadur Shah Zafar during the 1857 revolt. British period: O.P. Jindal, industrialist and politician Gujar Mal Modi-founder of Modi group and Padmabhushan awardee Raja Harsukh RaiWriters: Vibudh Shridhar, author and poet, composer of several texts Bharatendu Harishchandra Hindi pioneer Babu Gulabrai, Hindi writer and philosopher Jinendra Varni compiler of 5 volume "Jainendra Siddhanta Kosha" and Saman Suttam compilation.Engineers:Sir Ganga Ram: often referred to as the ‘Father of modern Lahore', first modern engineer in India and a leading philanthropist and agriculturist of his times. He built Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore in 1921, Lady Mclagan School and Renala Khurd Power House with his own money.