>>The Banyan: Follows the Soldier, though as contrary in Humour,
as the Antipodes in the same Meridian are opposite on to
another: These have forgot if ever they were Jews, or no, but
if any of these People are such, these are most likely; ad by
a double Right of Jew and Gentile, are a Compound of the
greates Cheat in the World, the fittest therefore to make
Brokers and Merchants of.<<
Source: Sir Thomas Roe and Dr. John Fryer, Travels in India in
the Seventeenth Century, London: Trübner and Co, 1873, p. 445
(the travel took place in 1615-18).
Note Courtesy of Roy, yet another overworked historian. He had to come up for air eventually.
As for the spelling 'Banyan', it is not, of course, a mistake. Though today we preserve this form for the tree, and use in Hindi 'Bania' for the tradesmen, the words are related.
Here is Hobson-Jobson to the rescue:
BANYAN-TREE, also elliptically Banyan , s. The Indian Fig-Tree (Ficus Indica, or Ficus bengalensis, L.), called in H. baṛ [or baṛgat, the latter the "Bourgade" of Bernier (ed. Constable, p. 309).] The name appears to have been first bestowed popularly on a famous tree of this species growing near Gombroon (q.v.), under which the Banyans or Hindu traders settled at that port, had built a little pagoda. So says Tavernier below. This original Banyan-tree is described by P. della Valle (ii. 453), and by Valentijn (v. 202). P. della Valle's account (1622) is extremely interesting, but too long for quotation. He calls it by the Persian name, lūl. The tree still stood, within half a mile of the English factory, in 1758, when it was visited by Ives, who quotes Tickell's verses given below. [Also see CUBEER BURR.]
(1) BANYAN, s. a. A Hindu trader, and especially of the Province of Guzerat; many of which class have for ages been settled in Arabian ports and known by this name; but the term is often applied by early travellers in Western India to persons of the Hindu religion generally. b. In Calcutta also it is (or perhaps rather was) specifically applied to the native brokers attached to houses of business, or to persons in the employment of a private gentleman doing analogous duties (now usually called sircar).
The word was adopted from Vāṇiya, a man of the trading caste (in Gujarāti vāṇiyo), and that comes from Skt. vaṇij, 'a merchant.' The terminal nasal may be a Portuguese addition (as in palanquin, mandarin, Bassein), or it may be taken from the plural form vāṇiyān. It is probable, however, that the Portuguese found the word already in use by the Arab traders. Sidi 'Ali, the Turkish Admiral, uses it in precisely the same form, applying it to the Hindus generally; and in the poem of Sassui and Panhu, the Sindian Romeo and Juliet, as given by Burton in his Sindh (p. 101), we have the form Wāniyān. P. F. Vincenzo Maria, who is quoted below absurdly alleges that the Portuguese called these Hindus of Guzerat Bagnani, because they were always washing themselves ". . . . chiamati da Portughesi Bagnani, per la frequenza e superstitione, con quale si lauano piu volte il giorno" (251). See also Luillier below. The men of this class proféss an extravagant respect for animal life; but after Stanley brought home Dr. Livingstone's letters they became notorious as chief promoters of slavetrade in Eastern Africa. A. K. Forbes speaks of the mediaeval Wānias at the Court of Anhilwāra as "equally gallant in the field (with Rajputs), and wiser in council . . . already in profession puritans of peace, but not yet drained enough of their fiery Kshatri blood." -- (Rās Māla, i. 240; [ed. 1878, 184].)
Bunya is the form in which vāṇiya appears in the Anglo-Indian use of Bengal, with a different shade of meaning, and generally indicating a graindealer.
1516. -- "There are three qualities of these Gentiles, that is to say, some are called Razbuts . . . others are called Banians, and are merchants and traders." -- Barbosa, 51.
1552. -- " . . . Among whom came cer- tain men who are called Baneanes of the same heathen of the Kingdom of Cambaia . . . coming on board the ship of Vasco da Gama, and seeing in his cabin a pictorial image of Our Lady, to which our people did reverence, they also made adoration with much more fervency. . . ."-<-> Barros, Dec., I. liv. iv. cap. 6.
1555. -- "We may mention that the in- habitants of Guzerat call the unbelievers Banyāns, whilst the inhabitants of Hindustan call them Hindū." -- Sidi 'Ali Kapudān, in J. As., 1ère S. ix. 197-8.
1563. -- "R. If the fruits were all as good as this (mango) it would be no such great matter in the Baneanes, as you tell me, not to eat flesh. And since I touch on this matter, tell me, prithee, who are these Baneanes . . . who do not eat flesh ? . . . " -- Garcia, f. 136.
1608. -- "The Gouernour of the Towne of Gandeuee is a Bannyan, and one of those kind of people that obserue the Law of Pythagoras." -- Jones, in Purchas, i. 231.
[1610. -- "Baneanes." See quotation under BANKSHALL, a.]
1623. -- "One of these races of Indians is that of those which call themselves Vanià, but who are called, somewhat corruptly by the Portuguese, and by all our other Franks, Banians; they are all, for the most part, traders and brokers." -- P. della Valle, i. 486 -- 7; [and see i. 78 Hak. Soc.].
1630. -- "A people presented themselves to mine eyes, cloathed in linnen garments, somewhat low descending, of a gesture and garbe, as I may say, maidenly and well nigh effeminate; of a countenance shy, and somewhat estranged; yet smiling out a glosed and bashful familiarity. . . . I
asked what manner of people these were, so strangely notable, and notably strange. Reply was made that they were Banians." -- Lord, Preface.
1665. -- "In trade these Banians are a thousand times worse than the Jews; more expert in all sorts of cunning tricks, and more maliciously mischievous in their revenge. " -- Tavernier, E. T. ii. 58; [ed. Ball, i. 136, and see i. 91].
c. 1666. -- "Aussi chacun a son Banian dans les Indes, et il y a des personnes de qualité qui leur confient tout ce qu'ils ont . . . ." -- Thevenot, v. 166. This passage shows in anticipation the transition to the Calcutta use (b., below).
1672. -- "The inhabitants are called Gui- zeratts and Benyans." -- Baldaeus, 2.
" "It is the custom to say that to make one Bagnan (so they call the Gentile Merchants) you need three Chinese, and to make one Chinese three Hebrews." -- P. F. Vincenzo di Maria, 114.
1673. -- "The Banyan follows the Soldier, though as contrary in Humour as the Antipodes in the same Meridian are opposite to one another. . . . In Cases of Trade they are not so hide-bound, giving their Consciences more Scope, and boggle at no Villainy for an Emolument." -- Fryer, 193.
1677. -- "In their letter to Ft. St. George, 15th March, the Court offer ₤20 reward to any of our servants or soldiers as shall be able to speak, write, and translate the Banian language, and to learn their arithmetic. " -- In Madras Notes and Exts., No. I. p. 18.
1705. -- " . . . ceux des premieres castes, comme les Baignans." -- Luillier, 106.
1813. -- " . . . it will, I believe, be gener- ally allowed by those who have dealt much with Banians and merchants in the larger trading towns of India, that their moral character cannot be held in high estimation. " -- Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 456.
1877. -- "Of the Wani, Banyan, or trader- caste there are five great families in this country." -- Burton, Sind Revisited, ii. 281.
b.-
1761. -- "We expect and positively direct that if our servants employ Banians or black people under them, they shall be accountable for their conduct." -- The Court of Directors, in Long, 254.
1764. -- "Resolutions and Orders. That no Moonshee, Linguist, Banian, or Writer, be allowed to any officer, excepting the Commander-in-Chief." -- Ft. William Proc., in Long, 382.
1775. -- "We have reason to suspect that the intention was to make him (Nundcomar) Banyan to General Clavering, to surround the General and us with the Governor's creatures, and to keep us totally unacquainted with the real state of the Government. " -- Minute by Clavering, Monson, and Francis, Ft. William, 11th April. In Price's Tracts, ii. 138.
1780. -- "We are informed that the Juty Wallahs or Makers and Vendors of Bengal Shoes in and about Calcutta . . . intend sending a Joint Petition to the Supreme Council . . . on account of the great decay of their Trade, entirely owing to the Luxury of the Bengalies, chiefly the Bangans (sic) and Sarcars, as there are scarce any of them to be found who does not keep a Chariot, Phaeton, Buggy or Pallanquin, and some all four . . ." -- In Hicky's Bengal Gazette, June 24th.
1783. -- "Mr. Hastings' bannian was, after this auction, found possessed of territories yielding a rent of ₤140,000 a year." -- Burke, Speech on E. I. Bill, in Writings, &c., iii. 490.
1786. -- "The said Warren Hastings did permit and suffer his own banyan or principal black steward, named Canto Baboo, to hold farms . . . to the amount of 13 lacs of rupees per annum." -- Art. agst. Hastings, Burke, vii. 111.
" "A practice has gradually crept in among the Banians and other rich men of Calcutta, of dressing some of their servants . . . nearly in the uniform of the Honourable Company's Sepoys and Lascars. . . ." -- Notification, in Seton Karr, i. 122.
1788. -- "Banyan -- A Gentoo servant em- ployed in the management of commercial affairs. Every English gentleman at Bengal has a Banyan who either acts of himself, or as the substitute of some great man or black merchant." -- Indian Vocabulary (Stockdale).
1810. -- "The same person frequently was banian to several European gentlemen; all of whose concerns were of course accurately known to him, and thus became the subject of conversation at those meetings the banians of Calcutta invariably held. . . ." -- Williamson, V. M. i. 189.
1817. -- "The European functionary . . . has first his banyan or native secretary."-<-> Mill, Hist. (ed. 1840), iii. 14. Mr. Mill does not here accurately interpret the word.
(2). BANYAN, s. An undershirt, originally of muslin, and so called as resembling the body garment of the Hindus; but now commonly applied to under body-clothing of elastic cotton, woollen, or silk web. The following quotations illustrate the stages by which the word reached its present application. And they show that our predecessors in India used to adopt the native or Banyan costume in their hours of ease. C. P. Brown defines Banyan as "a loosedressinggown, such as Hindu tradesmen wear." Probably this may have been the original use; but it is never so employed in Northern India.
1672. -- "It is likewise ordered that both Officers and Souldiers in the Fort shall, both on every Sabbath Day, and on every day when they exercise, weare English apparel; in respect the garbe is most becoming as Souldiers, and correspondent to their profession. " -- Sir W. Langhorne's Standing Order, in Wheeler, iii. 426.
1731. -- "The Ensign (as it proved, for his first appearance, being undressed and in his banyon coat, I did not know him) came off from his cot, and in a very haughty manner cried out, 'None of your disturbance, Gentlemen. '" -- In Wheeler, iii. 109.
1781. -- "I am an Old Stager in this Country, having arrived in Calcutta in the Year 1736. . . . Those were the days, when Gentlemen studied Ease instead of Fashion; when even the Hon. Members of the Council met in Banyan Shirts, Long Drawers (q.v.), and Conjee (Congee) caps; with a Case Bottle of good old Arrack, and a Gouglet of Water placed on the Table, which the Secretary (a Skilful Hand) frequently converted into Punch . . ." -- Letter from An Old Country Captain, in India Gazette, Feb. 24th.
[1773. -- In a letter from Horace Walpole to the Countess of Upper Ossory, dated April 30th, 1773 (Cunningham's ed., v. 459) he describes a ball at Lord Stanley's, at which two of the dancers, Mr. Storer and Miss Wrottesley, were dressed "in banians with furs, for winter, cock and hen." It would be interesting to have further details of these garments, which were, it may be hoped, different from the modern Banyan.]
1810. -- " . . . an undershirt, commonly called a banian." -- Williamson, V.M. i. 19.
For more on the tree:
c. A.D. 70. -- "First and foremost, there is a Fig -- tree there (in India) which beareth very small and slender figges. The propertie of this Tree, is to plant and set it selfe without mans helpe. For it spreadeth out with mightie armes, and the lowest water-boughes underneath, do bend so downeward to the very earth, that they touch it againe, and lie upon it: whereby, within one years space they will take fast root in the ground, and put foorth a new Spring round about the Mother-tree: so as these braunches, thus growing, seeme like a traile or border of arbours most curiously and artificially made," &c. -- Plinies Nat. Historie, by Philemon Holland, i. 360.
1624.-
" . . . The goodly bole being got
To certain cubits' height, from every side
The boughs decline, which, taking root afresh,
Spring up new boles, and these spring new, and newer,
Till the whole tree become a porticus,
Or arched arbour, able to receive
A numerous troop."
Ben Jonson, Neptune's Triumph.
c. 1650. -- "Cet Arbre estoit de même espece que celuy qui est a une lieue du Bander, et qui passe pour une merveille; mais dans les Indes il y en a quantité. Les Persans l'appellent Lul, les Portugais Arber de Reys, et les Francais l'Arbre des Banianes; parce que les Banianes ont fait bâtir dessous une Pagode avec un carvansera accompagné de plusieurs petits étangs pour se laver." -- Tavernier, V. de Perse, liv. v. ch. 23. [Also see ed. Ball, ii. 198.]
c. 1650. -- "Near to the City of Ormus was a Bannians tree, being the only tree that grew in the Island." -- Tavernier, Eng. Tr. i. 255.
c. 1666. -- "Nous vimes à cent ou cent cinquante pas de ce jardin, l'arbre War dans toute son etenduë. On l'appelle aussi Ber, et arbre des Banians, et arbre des racines . . . ." -- Thevenot, v. 76.
1667.-
"The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd;
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother-tree, a pillar'd shade
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between. " Paradise Lost, ix. 1101.
[Warton points out that Milton must have had in view a description of the Banyantree in Gerard's Herbal under the heading "of the arched Indian fig-tree."]
1672. -- "Eastward of Surat two Courses, i.e. a League, we pitched our Tent under a Tree that besides its Leafs, the Branches bear its own Roots, therefore called by the Portugals, Arbor de Raiz; For the Adoration the Banyans pay it, the Banyan-Tree." -- Fryer, 105.
1691. -- "About a (Dutch) mile from Gamron . . . stands a tree, heretofore described by Mandelslo and others. . . . Beside this tree is an idol temple where the Banyans do their worship." -- Valentijn, v. 267-8.
1717.-
"The fair descendants of thy sacred bed
Wide -- branching o'er the Western World shall spread,
Like the fam'd Banian Tree, whose pliant shoot
To earth ward bending of itself takes root,
Till like their mother plant ten thousand stand
In verdant arches on the fertile land;
Beneath her shade the tawny Indians rove,
Or hunt at large through the wide-echoing grove."
Tickell, Epistle from a Lady in England tò a Lady in Avignon.
1726. -- "On the north side of the city (Sūrat) is there an uncommonly great Pichar or Waringin* tree. . . The Portuguese call this tree Albero de laiz, i.e. Root-tree. . . . Under it is a small chapel built by a Benyan. . . . Day and night lamps are alight there, and Benyans constantly come in pilgrimage, to offer their prayers to this saint."-<-> Valentijn, iv. 145.
1771. -- ". . . being employed to con- struct a military work at the fort of Triplasore (afterwards called Marsden's Bastion) it was necessary to cut down a banyan-tree which so incensed the brahmans of that place, that they found means to poison him" (i.e. Thomas Marsden of the Madras Engineers). -- Mem. of W. Marsden, 7-8.
1809. -- "Their greatest enemy (i.e. of the buildings) is the Banyan-Tree." -- Ld.Valentia, i. 396.
Waringin is the Javanese name of a sp. kindred to the banyan, Ficus benjamina, L.
1810.-
"In the midst an aged Banian grew.
It was a goodly sight to see
That venerable tree,
For o'er the lawn, irregularly spread,
Fifty straight columns propt its lofty head;
And many a long depending shoot,
Seeking to strike its root,
Straight like a plummet grew towards the ground,
Some on the lower boughs which crost their way,
Fixing their bearded fibres, round and round,
With many a ring and wild contortion wound;
Some to the passing wind at times, with sway
Of gentle motion swung;
Others of younger growth, unmoved, were hung
Like stone-drops from the cavern's fretted height."
Southey, Curse of Kehama, xiii. 51. [Southey takes his account from Williamson, Orient. Field Sports, ii. 113.]
1821.-
"Des banians touffus, par les brames adorés,
Depuis longtemps la langueur nous implore,
Courbés par le midi, dont l'ardeur les dévore,
Ils étendent vers nous leurs rameaux altérés."
Casimir Delavigne, Le Paria, iii. 6.
A note of the publishers on the preceding passage, in the edition of 1855, is diverting:
"Un journaliste allemand a accusé M. Casimir Delavigne d'avoir pris pour un arbre une secte religieuse de l'Inde. . . ." The German journalist was wrong here, but he might have found plenty of matter for ridicule in the play. Thus the Brahmins (men) are Akebar (!), Idamore (!!), and Empsael (!!!); their women Néala (?), Zaide (!), and Mirza (!!).
1825. -- "Near this village was the finest banyan-tree which I had ever seen, literally a grove rising from a single primary stem, whose massive secondary trunks, with their straightness, orderly arrangement, and evident connexion with the parent stock, gave the general effect of a vast vegetable organ. The first impression which I felt on coming under its shade was, 'What a noble place of worship!'" -- Heber, ii. 93 (ed. 1844).
1834. -- "Cast forth thy word into the everliving, everworking universe; it is a seed -- grain that cannot die; unnoticed today, it will be found flourishing as a banyangrove -- (perhaps alas! as a hemlock forest) after a thousand years." -- Sartor Resartus.
1856.-
". . . its pendant branches, rooting in the air,
Yearn to the parent earth and grappling fast,
Grow up huge stems again, which shooting forth
In massy branches, these again despatch
Their drooping heralds, till a labyrinth
Of root and stem and branch commingling, forms
A great cathedral, aisled and choired in wood."
The Banyan Tree, a Poem.
1865. -- "A family tends to multiply fami- lies around it, till it becomes the centre of a tribe, just as the banyan tends to surround itself with a forest of its own offspring."-<-> Maclennan, Primitive Marriage, 269.
1878. -- ". . . des banyans soutenus par des racines aëriennes et dont les branches tombantes engendrent en touchant terre des sujets nouveaux." -- Rev. des Deux Mondes, Oct. 15, p. 832.
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