Who Are The Vaṇi ?

It is very likely that the paṇi and baika – the ancestors of vāṇi and vaishya were itinerant merchants travelling across the country selling diverse wares – basically carrying products of one region into another, and making their livelihood out of that. They must have used cattle as the mode of transport, in the process trading in cattle as well. We do find references to such ‘cattle caravans’ moving across the country. [See Bhan, 1973 : The Sequence and Spread of Prehistoric Cultures in the Upper Saraswati Basin; Possehl, 1980 : Urban and Post Urban Harappan Settlement Patterns in Gujarat; Allchin, 1983 : The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan, 189; Mehta, 1984 : Valabhi – A Station of Harappan Cattle-breeders] Incidentally, RV 6.045.33 talks of Brbu donating ‘a thousand liberal gifts’ to the Bharadvaja priests, possibly a thousand heads of cattle.