termarry. The
Nemas wear the sacred thread and apparently prohibit the remarriage
of widows. The Nemas are considered to be very keen business men,
and a saying about them is, "Where a sheep grazes or a Nema trades,
what is there left for anybody else?"

Bania, Oswal

_Bania, Oswal._--This is perhaps the most important subdivision of the
Banias after the Agarwala. The Oswals numbered nearly 10,000 persons
in the Central Provinces in 1911, being found in considerable numbers
in all the Berar Districts, and also in Nimar, Wardha and Raipur. The
name is derived from the town of Osia or Osnagar in Marwar. According
to one legend of their origin the Raja of Osnagar had no son, and
obtained one through the promise of a Jain ascetic. The people then
drove the ascetic from the town, fearing that the Raja would become a
Jain; but Osadev, the guardian goddess of the place, told the ascetic,
Sri Ratan Suri, to convert the Raja by a miracle. So she took a small
hank (_puni_) of cotton and passed it along the back of the saint,
when it immediately became a snake and bit Jaichand, the son of the
Raja, in the toe, while he was asleep beside his wife. Every means
was tried to save his life, but he died. As his corpse was about
to be burnt, the ascetic sent one of his disciples and stopped the
cremation. Then the Raja came with the body of his son and stood
with hands clasped before the saint. He ordered that it was to be
taken back to the place where the prince had been bitten, and that
the princess was to lie down beside it as before. At midnight the
snake returned and licked the bite, when the prince was restored to
life. Then the Raja, with all his Court and people, became a Jain. He
and his family founded the _gotra_ or section now known as Sri Srimal
or most noble; his servants formed that known as Srimal or excellent,
while the other Rajputs of the town became ordinary Oswals. When the
Brahmans of the place heard of these conversions they asked the saint
how they were to live, as all their clients had become Jains. The
saint directed that they should continue to be the family priests
of the Oswals and be known as Bhojak or 'eaters.' Thus the Oswals,
though Jains, continue to employ Marwari Brahmans as their family
priests. Another version of the story is that the king of Srimali
[157] allowed no one who was not a millionaire to live within his city
walls. In consequence of this a large number of persons left Srimal,
and,