Other Surnames / Gotras : There are 72 surnames in Maheshwaris - eg Attalans, Bhansali, Bhardwaj, Chandrans, Rajhans, Shadilya, Silans, Sodhans etc.
Religion : Hindu
Varna : Vaishya
Language : Hindi
Regional Spread : Northern and Eastern parts of India mainly Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat
Traditional Occupation : Business
Founder : Lord Shiva, according to mythology
Time of Origin : Ancient times
Place of Origin : Khandela, in northern Rajasthan
Food Habits : Prefer vegetarian food. Notable feature of Maheshwari cuisine is the use of mango powder (aamchoor).
Marriage Preference : Prefer intra-caste marriages
History and Origin : Once King Khadgal Sen, ruler of Khandela, in Rajasthan was blessed with a son after performing yagnas and ritual in devotion to Lord Shiva. Priests predicted that the child be blessed with good fortune but should not be allowed to go towards east direction. Later, when Sujan Kunwar grew he was married to princess Chadravati, a daughter of King Yudhaveer and inherited the kingdom while King Khadal Singh retired from the affairs of the Kingdom.
Following a routine practice, one day King Sujansen went into the forest to hunt with his seventy-two soldiers as part of his routine. The King did not heed to the advice of the priest and moved towards the East direction. In the forest, the king and the soldiers lost their way and became famished and fatigued. In their search for a way out, they found six rishis performing yagnas for Lord Shiva. Due to extreme hunger, the king and soldiers started eating prasad, drinking water from the nearby pond that was reserved for the yagna puja and also started washing their stained bows and arrows in it. This broke rishis concentration and they cursed the King and his seventy-two soldiers to turn into stones.
In the Kingdom, when the queen and other 72 wives of soldiers came to know about the incident, they became anxious and prayed to Lord Shiva and Parvati Ma for the restoration of their husbands. Goddess Parvati was pleased with their devotion and pleaded Lord Shiva to remove the curse from King and the 72 soldiers. Lord Shiva agreed and the King and other seventy-two soldiers came back to their normal selves. However, Shiva told King Sujansen that since, he was giving them a second life, they will be known after his name as "Mahesh-waris". He also instructed the King and other soldiers to leave their Kshatriya tradition and convert to Vaisyas, which is a role of non-violence.
Since then, these 72 families were called Maheshwaris taking the name from Lord Shiva or Lord Mahesh. These 72 families with their surnames (khaps) formed the primary Maheshwari list of surnames. Later, there were subdivisions and from amongst these 72 surnames there were more sub-surnames (up-khaps). After some time, five more families from the Kshatriyas joined the Maheshwaris.