The history and origin of Maheshwari caste
The ruler of village Khandela was a very resilient and efficient king. He always promoted peace, harmony and was one of the most beloved kings of all. His name was Kharaksen. He had a total of 24 wives who happily lived with him. The only hardship faced by the king was the absence of a son in his life. There was no body who could inherit his throne and valour despite having multiple daughters. Eventually, the king performed a sacred Yajna which impressed holy men and saints. As a result, he was blessed with a beautiful son.
KharakSen named his son- sujan kuvar. He was the only child of the king who could rule the whole Khandela. He learned administrative tasks and weaponry very well.
Eventually, sujan kuvar decided to promote Jainism and lost faith in Hindu temples and Gods. As the time passed, he got so impressed with Jain rituals that he started hating Hindu ceremonies. One day he destroyed the Yajna performed by the Sadhus. He was cursed and the whole kingdom along with his horsemen got converted into stones.
On learning of the whole incident, Chandrawati – the wife of Sujan Kuvar prayed to the holy saints to forgive her husband and his army. The saints gave her a strong mantra to impress Goddess Parvati and Lord Mahesh (Shiva). This mantra was religiously chanted by the wives of Rajputs and Sujan Kuvar. Eventually, the Lord removed the curse given to Sujan Kuvar by returning him back to his life from stone. Also, God shiva converted him into a business man and asked him to give up weaponry. Lord Shiva added that his community will be called Maheshwari and this caste will always have more prosperity in trade and business.
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati blessed the whole clan to have a happy married life and recreated their last surnames as Maheshwari. All the 72 Horsemen got Maheshwari caste gotra as a part of this blessing.
Who are Maheshwari caste people?
As already mentioned in the story, Goddess Parvati converted all the Rajputs into businessmen and vaishya community. Hence, The Maheshwari caste belongs to the Baniya community that is spread all across India and specifically found in urban areas. The Lord Mahesh – Shiva himself is the mercantile of this caste. People carrying Maheshwari caste Gotra often carry surnames such as Kabra, Malpani, Agarwal, Oswal and Khandelwal.
Maheshwari caste people mostly worship Lord Shiva because of him being their originator. Some people can be found using Maheshwaria, Maheshwaray and Mahesh instead of Maheshwari as their surname. It completely depends on their geographical context and Socio economic status.
Maheshwari – the Hindu community of India has an immense role to play in the commercial and traditional occupations. The Maheshwari caste people are heavily influenced by Marwari businessmen in Rajasthan. They are now working as bankers, industrialists, entrepreneurs and servicemen.