bunnia

plural bunnias · alternative bania · alternative baniya · alternative bunia · alternative bunniah

1. IndiaA merchant or trader.

   I dare not tell, do anything, or get anything done, because I am in debt to Bhangwan Dass the bunnia for two gold rings and a heavy anklet.

   1888, Rudyard Kipling, “In the House of Suddhoo”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 103

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   Of what the Englishman's business would consist, the Raja made no enquiry: he was a zemindar after all, not a bania in a bazar, sitting cross-legged on a countertop.

   2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 84