Agrahari is a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

 and trading community found in North India

North India

North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...

. They are also known as Baniya, Vaishya or Gupta.

History and origin

The Agrahari belong to Kashyap/Kuchchal Gotra in the Vaish community

People who belong to the Vaish community mostly live in the suburbs from the northern to the western part of India, including some of the population who live in the suburbs in eastern India.

The Agrahari claim to be a descendant of Emperor Agrasen of Agroha, who is credited with the establishment of a kingdom of traders in Agroha

Agroha

Agroha is an ancient town in Haryana in what is now Northern India, believed to be the birthplace of the Agrawal and Agrahari communities. Ancient structures, pot-shards, coins and seals have been found in archaeological excavations...

,situated in haryana state North India.

Agrasen (Maharaja Agrasen, Emperor Agrasen) was the ancient Indian king

King

- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

 of Agroha, a city of traders.

Today Agroha is a very important place in Haryana, Hissar district in India. The Agrahari community are part of the Agrawal

Agrawal

Agrawal or Agarwal is a large and influential community in India. Agrawals are Kshatriya by birth of the Solar Dynasty but after the adoption of Vanika dharma by king Agrasena, Agrawals started dealing in business...

 community.

Distribution

Some of the trade families migrated from Agroha to more eastern part of Uttar Pradesh (state in India). They migrated to places like Dist. Fatehpur, Rae-barelli, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Mirjapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur

Ghazipur

Ghazipur , or Ghazipur City, previously spelt Ghazeepore, is a city/town and a municipal corporation and headquarter of Ghazipur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghazipur Division and Sub-division...

, jaunpur,Gorakhpur, Basti,Sant kabir Nagar, Faizabad,Siddharth Nagar etc.. (all cities of Uttar Pradesh) and from here to further east towards Kolkata and now they form quite a population all over India. Some sikh Ahrahari families are also found in Bihar, Jharkhand and Calcutta. There are about 5 million Agraharis' all around India, Nepal and Burma.
Agraharis have an All India Executive Body, elections of which are held every three years. It publishes a community monthly magazine called as "Agrahari Samaj Masik". Another monthly magazine is "Sanskar Samuchchay". President of the All India Agrahari community is Shri Sheo Kumar Agrahari of Kolkata who is one of the leading businessman & shri Om Prakash Agrahari of Gorakhpur is General Seceretary. Official Website of the Agrahari community is http://www.agraharivsj.in , http://www.agraharivaishsamaj.com www.agraharisamajvikas.com