James G. Lochtefeld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386141
- eISBN:
- 9780199866380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386141.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights ...
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Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights through written records (bahi) of previous pilgrim visits. Pandas formerly provided for a client’s every need, including food, lodging, travel arrangements, lending money, or religious rituals, for which pandas received fees and gifts. Better infrastructure and wider social changes have eroded panda status from “family members” to ritual contractors, but the pandas’ control over the final death rite, asthivisarjana, provides a secure if marginal economic niche. Pandas have responded to social pressures by forming local associations—both to promote their collective interests and to safeguard Hardwar’s sanctity. The most significant association is the Ganga Sabha (“Ganges Assembly”), which arose during the 1914–17 protest against damming the Ganges.Less
Pandas are local brahmins who serve as hereditary pilgrim guides. Each panda family has the rights to pilgrims from a particular Indian region, and pandas protect these rights through written records (bahi) of previous pilgrim visits. Pandas formerly provided for a client’s every need, including food, lodging, travel arrangements, lending money, or religious rituals, for which pandas received fees and gifts. Better infrastructure and wider social changes have eroded panda status from “family members” to ritual contractors, but the pandas’ control over the final death rite, asthivisarjana, provides a secure if marginal economic niche. Pandas have responded to social pressures by forming local associations—both to promote their collective interests and to safeguard Hardwar’s sanctity. The most significant association is the Ganga Sabha (“Ganges Assembly”), which arose during the 1914–17 protest against damming the Ganges.
Kshama V. Kaushik and Kaushik Dutta
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198072614
- eISBN:
- 9780199081592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198072614.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter describes various indigenous financial and business practices. A unique social innovation developed in ancient India, a merchant guild or sreni or nigama was akin to a corporate ...
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This chapter describes various indigenous financial and business practices. A unique social innovation developed in ancient India, a merchant guild or sreni or nigama was akin to a corporate self-governing entity with its own regulations which were duly recognized and even registered by the local authorities. Some other practices prevalent in ancient India were hundis, which were part of a sophisticated financial system for safe transfer of funds to carry out business transactions; loan deed forms called rnpatra or rnlekhya; nidhis or chit funds which were designed to cultivate the habit of thrift and savings amongst its members, and the bahi-khata and parta systems of bookkeeping and management. The authors suggest that rather than dismissing these ancient practices as outmoded, Indian businesses may gain from modifying them to suit modern commerce.Less
This chapter describes various indigenous financial and business practices. A unique social innovation developed in ancient India, a merchant guild or sreni or nigama was akin to a corporate self-governing entity with its own regulations which were duly recognized and even registered by the local authorities. Some other practices prevalent in ancient India were hundis, which were part of a sophisticated financial system for safe transfer of funds to carry out business transactions; loan deed forms called rnpatra or rnlekhya; nidhis or chit funds which were designed to cultivate the habit of thrift and savings amongst its members, and the bahi-khata and parta systems of bookkeeping and management. The authors suggest that rather than dismissing these ancient practices as outmoded, Indian businesses may gain from modifying them to suit modern commerce.
