Barbodhan is a village in the

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

District of western

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, on the north bank of the River

Tapti The Tapti River (or Tapi) is a river in central India located to the south of the Narmada river that flows westwards before draining into the Arabian Sea. The river has a length of around and flows through the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat a ...

. It comes within the jurisdiction of the Olpad

Taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

Etymology

According to local folklore, the name Barbodhan comes from the Arabic ''Bāb'' ''Aden'' or "Gateway to

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

". It is known that at one time Muslims travelling to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

would pass through this village on their way to the seaport of Surat, hence the name. Some sources suggest that the village was named after the Portuguese factor and traveller

Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbosa wrote the ''Book o ...

, though this seems unlikely as he never actually resided in the area. More recently though the village Barbodhan has become known as the 'Golden Village'. The village has existed for many years, and tombstones in the graveyard indicate that Muslims were buried there some three to four hundred years ago. According to one source the first Indian Muslims to settle here were several brothers with the surname Rawat, who came from Nasirpoor Bhatti, a place near

Navsari Navsari is the ninth biggest city in the state of Gujarat in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Navsari District. Navsari is between Surat and Mumbai. It is a twin city of Surat, 37 km to the north. At the 2011 Census of Ind ...

The Diaspora of Barbodhanis

Barbodhanis have always interested in trade and commerce and travelled to foreign lands, undertaking long sea voyages. People left Barbodhan in the early 19th century to settle in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, where they established many businesses and were great entrepreneurs; a number of them even became advisors to the Burmese rulers. Then from in the 1840s many other emigrants from Barbodhan went to the island of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, where they were later responsible for introducing hydroelectric power, as well as being involved in other trading and business concerns. The first Muslim mayor in Mauritius was originally from Barbodhan. Then came the migration to England from the 1950s to the 1970s. Once immigration to the United Kingdom became more difficult, a number of Barbodhians then left for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

particularly during the period from the 1970s to the 1990s. A considerable number of Barbodhians undertook further migrations from one of these countries to another; such as from Burma to England, England to Canada or Mauritius to England.Kala, Ibrahim Dawood. A History of Barbodhan Muslims living in the UK, 2004, Barbodhan Press, Cambridge, MA, pg.8 Despite the fact that Barbodhan is only a small village, its people have made valuable contributions in societies around the world. Barbodhians have set up many

Waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

s or Religious Foundations to help poor, needy, disadvantaged and unfortunate members of society, particularly in Burma and Mauritius. The largest population of Barbodhians outside India is in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, where the community settled in the 1950s and 1960s. The first ever Elected Member on Bolton Council of Indian origin was from Barbodhan. There is also a large number of settlers from Barbodhan in Preston, also in Lancashire, where the Barbodhan Muslim Welfare Society (UK) was set as early as 1960. There are currently two mosques, two temples, one

madressa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

, one school and one library in the village. There is a large pond in the village of Barbodhan which is the biggest pond in the Olpad

. It covers an area of around 999 vigha (250 acres/101.17 hectares).

Demographics

All the Muslim population residing in the village are classed as Surti

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Vohra Muslims, or

Surti Muslims The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat on the western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have the Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities have Urdu as their moth ...

following the

Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat ( , also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is an international Islamic schools and branches, Islamic religious movement. It focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encourages f ...

Movement. Some common surnames attributed to the village are (Atcha/Atchia/ATTCHA), ADIYA/Adia, NALLA, MULLA, KALLA (KALA), NANA, Ghanchi, PATEL,/Esa/ISA, Rawat, RAJA, JEEWA//JIVA), JINA, Makda, ABU, and ... live other villagers LIMALIYA (KAWAS), Attan (KOSAD), AHEMEDJI), NANI NAROLI, sushiwala (surat) gangat, Shah, Shaikh, Gulzar, Rajjab etc.. A number of Hindu families have settled in the UK particularly in Preston from Kenya

Business

Rama Newsprint and Papers Ltd have a large mill complex in Barbodhan, covering over . It is India's largest private sector company producing this commodity in a single location. the paper mill, glass factory, farming agriculture, poultry farm, fishing etc.

References

External links