BANKING, TRADE AND COMMERCE

PEDLARS

The growing importance of weekly bazars and fairs and above all the opening of retail shops practically everywhere in the district have resulted in reducing the importance of pedlars in the pattern of trade. However, they still play a significant role as a tending community especially in rural areas. In some of the tahsils of the district, however, they are conspicuously absent. There are no pedlars [Information supplied by the tahsildars of Bhir district.] in Patoda and Ashti tahsils of the district. Manilegaon Kaij and Ambejogai tahsils have about 150 pedlars each. [Information supplied by the tahsildars of Bhir district.] A majority of the pedlars belong to the district itself. The rest, however, come from distant places such as Mysore, Madras, Aurangabad and Jalna and even from far off places such as Kanpur, Kashmir, etc. They bring woollen and silk goods, articles of silver-ware, ivory, etc.

A number of these pedlars belong to the professional class, such as oilmen, weavers, gardeners, tailors, artisans, etc. Besides, there are those who buy goods at the urban centres of the district and sell them in rural areas going from village to village. The local pedlars deal in perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables and other articles like grocery, grains, cloth, ready-made clothes, sweetmeats, glass material, brass-ware, potteries, etc. The pedlars from the distant places bring specialities like embroidered goods, saris, dhotis, ornaments and jewellery, ghee and butter, etc

Pedlars usually carry their goods on ponies, horses, bullock-carts, asses and sometimes on their own heads. In some parts bicycles are used. The pedlars obtain their stock from the trade-centres in the district itself viz., Parali, Georai, Ashti, Bhir, Manjlegaon, Ambejogai, etc., or from the distant trading centres like Jalna, Manwath, etc. The transactions are usually on cash basis except for a few cases of barter in the rural areas.