Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 4.djvu/23

 HOONA MULL. (177) HIS class of Hindoo merchants claims to be descended from a Rajpoot progenitor named Oojgur Seyn, who was a Puar, or Praimara of the Soorujbunsi division, and had seventeen sons by a concubine of the Alieer or cowherd caste. Each of these founded a separate gote, or clan, which still exist under three different appellations. The place where the sect arose is Ugroha, a town in the Hissar district, which, by the Uggurwallas, is esteemed holy, and is visited by them at stated periods, in pursuance of vows, and for the performance of stated ceremonies. They are, however, spread all over the country, and are found in most populous cities of India, except in the south. At Hyderabad, in the Deccan, there is a large fraternity of them, who, it is said, settled there after the conquest of the Golcondah state by the Emperor Aunmzeeb—having accompanied his army from the north as merchants, sutlers, and money dealers. At Hyderabad they live in a quarter of their own, with gates, which are always shut at night, and they maintain a body of men, who attend them, and protect their dwelling houses. In that city they are a very wealthy class, engaged in financial dealings with the local government, and with the nobility; and trading to a great extent in grain, shawls, precious stones, pearls, and brocades. They have agencies at Gwalior, Calcutta, &c., and their hoondees, or bills of exchange, on any part of India are always safe. They are, in short, a steady, money getting class of people, given to hard bargains and usury; but they are, at the same time, men of their word, strict in their transactions, not speculative, and rarely becoming bankrupt. No matter how small their beginnings, they persevere in a wonderful degree till they attain wealth, or at least competence, and they are never known to retire from business. They are first-rate accountants, and their books are kept by double entry in a strictly correct method. In manner the Uggmnvallas are remarkably plain and homely. They affect no state or grandeur, though the wealthy among them live well; but, for the most part, they have a reputation for parsimony, which they do not appear to object to, as it is the secret