Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "بنیا" in Urdu language version.
Some, like the Khojah caste, are Bania groups converted to Islam by Muslim pirs (saints).
Here we are concerned only with upper backwards which have four castes; Yadav (11.0 per cent), Koeri (4.0 per cent), Kurmi (3.5 per cent) and Bania (0.6 per cent) .
The Banias were again predominantly Hindu, but there were many Jain Banias and also Sikh and Muslim Banias in lesser numbers, and very few Buddhist Banias. Such was the picture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
