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