Banyan merchants



In the Indian Ocean trade, Banyan merchants are Indian merchants who are clearly distinguished from others by their Banyan clothing, their diet, and by the manner in which they conduct trade.

History
The Banyan people are mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, in the context of Indo-Roman trade relations, in Egypt and Sokotra, Dahlak Island and Suakim, Massawa, Muscat, Zanzibar, the Gulf of Aden, Aydhab, Hadramut, Syria, Persia and Europe. In Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname, it is mentioned that the language of the Rumelian Roma people from Gümülcine (Komotini) has Banyan roots.