Banians  local brokers and agents to the European merchants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The term banian is the Anglicised form of the Sanskrit/Bangla word banik (merchant). In Anglo-Indian society and among the natives too a banian was one who was engaged by an individual European merchant to work for him as a broker and agent. The banians were mostly high-caste Hindus, particularly Brahmins.

Because the European merchants were generally ignorant of the local language, customs, business hubs, weights and measures, and because they were not quite acquainted with the communication networks and market conditions in the mofussil, they needed to engage local agents to guide them. The banians were their interpreters, intermediaries, negotiators and even custodians of their purse. In lieu of their services they got a commission, usually two percent on the total value of goods transacted. The banians used to receive their European masters on the arrival of their ship, arrange their accommodation, select their servants during their stay, supervise the loading and unloading of cargoes, convert the silver brought by them into sicca rupees, take them to hats and bazars, provide capital if needed, and finally arrange a farewell nautch (baizee dance). In the south such agents and brokers were called Dubash and in China, Comprador.

Every Company official including the fort william Governor and the Council members had one or more banian who looked after their business concerns. The banians acted not only as brokers and agents but also as capital providers. It is said that most of the capital investments of the individual European merchants were locally procured and the greatest source of such capital was the banians.

After Palashi the value and volume of private business of Company officials increased manifold and with that the importance of the banians. Ambitious Indians had been competing for the favour of the Governor and the Council members as they had competed before for favour at the Nawab's Durbar. There were factions among the Company officials and their banians quickly learnt how to exploit the situation to fatten themselves.

Among the banians who became fabulously rich and influential were Kanta Babu, ramdulal de, Nabakrishna Dev, Gokul Ghoshal, Joynarayan Ghoshal, Naku Dhar, Joykrishna Sinha, Ganga Govinda Sinha, Darpanarayan Tagore, Kashinath Babu and many others. Most of the builders of the great families of nineteenth century Calcutta and of Bengal were originally banians. Their wealth was used in building palaces in Calcutta and in their native villages, purchasing zamindaris after the permanent settlement, buying Company bonds and in social and religious ceremonies.

From 1785 onward, the European agency houses established in Calcutta began to replace the banians in the export trade. But the banians as a class did not decline and disappear at once. The American merchants began to come to Bengal from 1785 and their investment in Bengal's export increased phenomenally during the Napoleonic Wars. American merchants engaged banians instead of Agency Houses, because their services could be obtained at a much cheaper rate. India was opened up to Free Trade after the charter act of 1813 and consequently many foreigners came to participate in Bengal's foreign trade. It meant a new opportunity for the banian class, but it did not last long. With the growth of banking and other service facilities, the banians were losing their importance and by 1850, they became extinct as a class. [Sirajul Islam]