Vaishya is the term used in the ancient fourfold class (VARNA) system of India for the common peo-ple, including merchants and agriculturists. The earlier VEDIC term was Vish, from which the term Vaishya derived. They were “twice-born” as were the KSHATRIYAS (warriors) and BRAHMINS (priests), being invested with the sacred thread at eight to 12 years of age to symbolize a new birth into soci-ety. They were allowed to learn the VEDAS, though they probably studied them much less than the upper two classes. Vaishya merchants were known for their early support of JAINISM and Buddhism (c. 800 to 500 B.C.E.).
Further reading: Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994); Utsa Patnaik, Peasant Class Differentiation: A Study in Method with Reference to Haryana (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987); T. Ramaswamy, Mer-chant Class: South India, 1336–1665 (Madurai: Mathi, 1997).
Encyclopedia of Hinduism. A. Jones and James D. Ryan. 2007.