Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Bohras - a business community with a distinctive religious or community identity

Option (1) Sindhis - a 'Vaisya' community of North India whose traditional occupation is trade — Incorrect. The Sindhis are not a Vaisya community. They are a business community with a distinctive community identity, and the Vaisya traders of North India are the banias.

Option (2) Nakarattars - a caste group that entered trade and then claimed 'Vaisya' status — Incorrect. The Nakarattars are a traditional merchant caste. Entering trade and then claiming Vaisya status describes some other caste groups on the path of upward mobility.

Option (3) Jains - the group that controlled the long-distance salt trade in the colonial period — Incorrect. The colonial long-distance salt trade was controlled by the Banjaras, a marginalised 'tribal' group. The Jains are a business community with a distinctive religious identity.

Option (4) Bohras - a business community with a distinctive religious or community identity — Correct. Traditional business communities include not only Vaisyas but also groups with distinctive religious or community identities. The Bohras are one of them, with the Parsis, Sindhis and Jains.

NCERT (2026-27): “Social Organisation of Markets – ‘Traditional Business Communities’ …
Although there are ‘Vaisya’ communities (such as banias in North India), whose traditional occupation has been trade or commerce for a long time, there are some caste groups that have entered into trade. Such groups tend to acquire or claim ‘Vaisya’ status in the process of upward mobility. Like the history of all caste communities, in most cases there is a complex relationonship between caste status or identity, and caste practices, including occupation. The ‘traditional business communities’ in India include not only ‘Vaisyas’, but also other groups with distinctive religious or other community identities, such as the Parsis, Sindhis, Bohras, or Jains. Merchant communities did not always have a high status in society; for instance, during the colonial period the long-distance trade in salt was controlled by a marginalised ‘tribal’ group, the Banjaras. …”