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settling in Mandovad, called it Osa or the frontier. Among them were Srimali Banias and also Bhatti, Chauhan, Gahlot, Gaur, Yadava, and several other clans of Rajputs, and these were the people who were subsequently converted by the Jain ascetic, Sri Ratan Suri, and formed into the single caste of Oswal. [158] Finally, Colonel Tod states that the Oswals are all of pure Rajput descent, of no single tribe, but chiefly Panwars, Solankis and Bhattis. [159] From these legends and the fact that their headquarters are in Rajputana, it may safely be concluded that the Oswal Banias are of Rajput origin. The large majority of the Oswals are Jain by religion, but a few are Vaishnava Hindus. Intermarriage between the Hindu and Jain sections is permitted. Like the Agarwalas, the Oswals are divided into Bisa, Dasa and Pacha sections or twenties, tens and fives, according to the purity of their lineage. The Pacha subcaste still permit the remarriage of widows. The three groups take food together but do not intermarry. In Bombay, Dasa Oswals intermarry with the Dasa groups of Srimali and Parwar Banias, [160] and Oswals generally can marry with other good Bania subcastes so long as both parties are Jains. The Oswals are divided into eighty-four _gotras_ or exogamous sections for purposes of marriage, a list of which is given by Mr. Crooke. [161] Most of these cannot be recognised, but a few of them seem to be titular, as Lorha a caste which grows hemp, Nunia a salt-refiner, Seth a banker, Daftari an office-boy, Vaid a physician, Bhandari a cook, and Kukara a dog. These may indicate a certain amount of admixture of foreign elements in the caste. As stated from Benares, the exogamous rule is that a man cannot marry in his own section, and he cannot marry a girl whose father's or mother's section is the same as that of either his father or mother. This would bar the marriage of first cousins. Though Jains the Oswals perform their weddings by walking round the sacred fire and observe certain Hindu rites, including the worship of the god Ganpati. [162] They also revere other Hindu deities and the sun and moon. The dead are burnt, but they do not observe any impurity after a death nor clean the house. On the day after the death the mourning family, both men and women, visit Parasnath's temple, and lay one seer (2 lbs.) of Indian millet before the god, bow to him and go home. They do not gather the ashes of the dead nor keep the yearly dea
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