Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Vāni
Vāni.— "The Vānis or Bāndēkars," Mr. H. A. Stuart writes,*[1] "have been wrongly classified in the census returns (1891) as oil-pressers; they are in reality traders. They are said to have come from Goa, and they speak Konkani. Their spiritual guru is the head of the Kumbakōnam math." In the Census Report, 1901, it is noted that Vāni, meaning literally a trader, is a Konkani-speaking trading caste, of which Bāndēkara is a synonym. " They ape the Brāhmanical customs, and call themselves by the curious hybrid name of Vaisya Brāhmans." Hari Chetti has been returned as a further synonym.
- ↑ * Manual of the South Canara District,