The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

from the state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in western coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Most Gujarati Muslims have

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

as their mother tongue, but some communities such as the

Momin Ansari The Momin Ansari ( ur, مومن أنصاري) or saudagar are a Muslim community found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The surname originated from Ansar tribe, the Medinan people who helped the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, in his m ...

Memons The Memon are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that originated in the Sindh region of Pakistan. The majority of the Memon people around the world follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. The Memon people have cultural similarities with the Khoja, Khat ...

Gujarati Shaikh The Gujarati Shaikh are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India. The Shaikhs of Gujarat have no single definite origin, as anyone could take up the title "shaikh" and thus different groups could be called Shaikhs, regardless o ...

People of India Gujarat Volume XXII Part One Editors R. B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan and M Azeez Mohideen pages 74 to 77 (Hansotis) and others, have

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Sunni Vohra/Bohra,

Ismāʿīlī Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-S ...

Khoja The Khojas ( sd}; gu, ખોજા, hi, ख़ोजा) are a mainly Nizari Isma'ili Shia community of people originating in Gujarat, India. Derived from the Persian Khwaja, a term of honor, the word Khoja is used to refer to Lohana Rajput ...

Dawoodi Bohra The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South ...

Memon Memon may refer to: Ethnic group and language * Memon people, an ethnic group originating in the ancient Sindh (modern day Pakistan) * Memoni language, the language of Memon people historically associated with Kathiawar, Gujarat, India People wit ...

, Surti, Miyan Bhai,

Pathan people Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were ...

/Hansotis, Khatri,

Ghanchi Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the pressing of oil in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik. The Jewish community of Maharashtra (called Bene Israel) was al ...

and

Chhipa Chhipi (alternatively called Chhipa/Chimpa) is a caste of people with ancestral roots tracing back to India. They are found in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh of India.People of India Gujarat Volum ...

each with their own customs and traditions. Gujarati Muslim merchants played a pivotal role in establishing

Islam in Indonesia Islam is the largest religion in Indonesia, with 86.7% of the Indonesian population identifying themselves as Muslim in a 2018 survey. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country, with approximately 231 million adherents. In ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and other parts of

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. Gujarati Muslims are very prominent in industry and medium-sized businesses and there is a very large Gujarati Muslim community in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. A very large number of this community migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1947 and have settled in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

province especially in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Having earned a formidable accolade as some of India's greatest seafaring merchants, the centuries-old Gujarati diaspora is found scattered throughout the Near East, Indian Ocean and Southern Hemisphere regions everywhere in between Africa and Japan with a notable presence in:

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

History

Located in the westernmost portion of India, Gujarat includes the region of Kutch, Saurashtra and the territories between the rivers Banas and Damanganga.

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

came early to Gujarat, with immigrant communities of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

traders. Most came as traders as they did before Islam and built a masjid during the times of Muhammad and other parts of the western seacoast of India as early as the 8th century C.E, spreading Islam soon as the religion gained a foothold in the Arabian peninsula. They were later joined by

and

traders from the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Many of these early merchants were

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

, both

Mustaali The Musta‘lī ( ar, مستعلي) are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other l ...

and

Nizari The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...

. They laid the foundation of the

Bohra Bohra or Bora may refer to: Groups of people *A Musta'li trading community: **Alavi Bohra, a branch of the Mustaali community **Dawoodi Bohra, a branch of the Mustaali community ** Suleimani Bohra, a Mustaali Ismaili community that predominantly re ...

and

communities. In the early era however Gujarat was ruled by the

Valabhi Vallabhi (or Valabhi or Valabhipur, modern Vala; Devanāgarī: वल्लभी) is an ancient city located in the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, near Bhavnagar in western India. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the ...

dynasty. In the thirteenth century, the last

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

ruler Karna, was defeated by

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over lar ...

, the Turkic

Sultan of Delhi The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The Mahajanapada, earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphica ...

. This episode ushered a period of five centuries of Muslim Turkic and Mughal rule, leading to a conversion of a number of Hindu Gujarati people to

and the creation of new communities such as the Molesalam and Miyana communities. In the sixteenth century, the

community immigrated from

and settled in Kutch and

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...

. While in

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

and

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

occurred among the Bohras and a new community of

Sunni Bohra Sunni Vahoras or Sunni Bohras ( ar, سنی بوہرہ; also Jafari Bohras or Patani Bohras), are a community from the state of Gujarat in India. Sharing many cultural similarities with the Dawoodi Bohras, they are often confused with that com ...

s was created. Another Muslim sect, the Mahdawi also settled in Gujarat and led to the creation of the

Tai Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

community. In 1593, the Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

conquered Gujarat and incorporated Gujarat in the Mughal Empire. This period led to the settlement of the Mughal community. A good many

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

and

Shaikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

families also are said to have arrived during the period of Mughal rule. With the establishment of the Sufi Suhrawardi and

Chishti The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufism, Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Ch ...

orders in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

, Sind and Gujarat, pirs enjoyed state patronage. At the same time, the Muslims from various provinces such as

Hyderabad Deccan Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, Balochistan, Sindh,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Gujarat,

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

and other parts of South Asia also moved to capitals of Muslim empire in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

. After the death of the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

, in 1707, Mughal rule began weaken after ruling for a century. Most of Gujarat fell to the

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

s, and this period saw the dispersal of further Pathans and Baluchis, who came as mercenaries and were destroyed or defeated by the

s. Gujarat fell to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in the late 19th century.Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey editor Richard V Weekes pages 294 to 297 Gujarati Muslim merchants played an historically important role in facilitating the Portuguese discovery of " the East Indies", in spreading and propagating Islam to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and in promoting the British discovery of Africa. In Southeast Asia, Malays referred to the Islamic elite among them by the noble title of adhirajas. The

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

trader, Shaikh Randeri (Shaikh Raneri) was responsible for spreading Islam to

Acheh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Surti merchants in particular also pioneered the use of scientific concepts and invented structural and mechanical advances in technology for the nationbuilding of

, such as introducing

hydro-electric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

to the people of

Jamat Bandi

Gujarati speaking Muslim society has a unique custom known as Jamat Bandi, literally meaning communal solidarity. This system is the traditional expression of communal solidarity. It is designed to regulate the affairs of the community and apply sanctions against infractions of the communal code. Almost all the main Gujarat communities, such as the

and

have

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

associations, known as jamats. Social organization at the Jamat Bandi level varies from community to community. In some communities, the Jamat simply runs a mosque and attached rest house and a

madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

. Some larger communities, such as the

and

have developed elaborate and highly formalized systems with written and registered constitutions. Their organizations own large properties, undertake housing projects and schools, dispensaries and weekly newspapers.

Communities

The region of Kutch has always been historically distinct, with the Muslims there accounting for about twenty percent of the population. This region is characterised by salt deserts, such as the

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into t ...

. Because of this landscape, the Kutch Muslims are

Maldhari Maldharis are herder, herdsmen community in Gujarat, India. Originally nomads, they came to be known as Maldharis after settling in Junagadh district (mainly Gir Forest). "Maldhari" is an occupational term which refers to people from a variety of c ...

pastoral nomads found in the

Banni Banni is a village in the Gambia. It is located in Wuli District in the Upper River Division Upper River was one of the five Divisions of the Gambia. Its capital was Basse Santa Su. It was subsequently reorganised as the Basse Local Governme ...

region of Kutch. Most of them are said to have originated in Sindh and speak a dialect of Kutchi which has many Sindhi loanwords. Major

communities include the Sandhai Muslims,

Jats The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subse ...

Halaypotra The Halaypotra ( sd, هاليپوٽا) are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India and a province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are one of a number of communities of Maldhari pastoral nomads found in the Banni region of Kutch. Hi ...

Hingora The Hingora are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India and a province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are one of a number of communities of Maldhari pastoral nomads found in the Banni region of Kutch. Present circumstances The c ...

Hingorja The Hingorja () are a Muslim community found in the state of a province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are one of a number of communities of pastoral nomads found in the Banni region of Kutch. History and origin The Hingorja claim descent from Sa ...

, Juneja. The other important Muslim community is the Khatiawari Memon community, that migrated and resettled beyond Gujarat. Coastal Gujarat is home to

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hansot ’Hansanagari’ but well known as Hansot is a village in Bharuch district, Southern Gujarat, India. It is about southwest of the city of Bharuch, and south of the Narmada River. The village and its surrounding ''taluka'' were acquired by th ...

and

Olpad Olpad is a town northwest of Surat, India, located at 21.33° north, 72.75° east and about 12 meters above sea level. Olpad is a small town in Surat, having about 50,898 residents. Olpad is divided by Sena River/Creek into Olpad Kasba/Main a ...

Muslims are divergent genotypically in that their

MtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

is of greater foreign origins in comparison to the

Y-DNA The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

. The Gujarat coastline is also home to significant numbers of

Siddi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived to ...

, otherwise known as ''Zanji'' or ''Habshi'', descendants of Africans e.g
Royal Habshis
(Abyssinian aristocracy e.g. Siddi Sayyid) or

Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern A ...

from Southeast Africa that were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by the Portuguese and Arab merchants. Siddis are primarily

Sufi Muslims Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spiri ...

, although some are

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and others

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Christians.

Malik Ambar Malik Ambar (1548 – 13 May 1626) was a Siddi military leader and prime minister who became a kingmaker and de facto ruler of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the Deccan region of India. Born in the Adal Sultunate, in present-day Ethiopia, Malik ...

, a prominent military figure in Indian history at large, remains a figure of veneration to the Siddis of Gujarat.

Bharuchi and Surti Muslims

There is historical evidence of Arabs and Persians settling along the

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

-Gujarat coast as early as the 9th, 8th and perhaps 7th century. Arab traders landed at

Ghogha Ghogha is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the mid-western bank of the Gulf of Khambhat. It was an important historical commercial port on the Arabian Sea until the development of nearby Bha ...

(located just across the narrow Gulf of

Cambay Cambay, Kambay or Khambhat was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The City of Khambat (Cambay) in present-day Gujarat was its capital. The state was bounded in the north by the Kaira district and in the south by the Gulf of Cam ...

from

) around the early seventh century and built a masjid there facing Jeruselum. Thus Gujarat has the oldest mosque in India built between 624 and 626 C.E. by the Arabs who traded and stayed there. These Arabs and others who settled in

and

were sailors, merchants and

nakhuda Nakhuda (when Anglicised, also written Nakhodeh, Nakhudah, Nakhooda, Nakhoda, Nakhodi) is a term originating from the Persian language which literally means Captain. Derived from nāv boat (from Old Persian) + khudā master, from Middle Persian khu ...

s, who belonged to various

South Arabia South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asi ...

n coastal tribes while others were from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and large numbers married local women adopting the local Gujarati language and customs over time. Over the course of history, a number of famous Arab travelers, scholars, Sufi-saints and geographers who visited India, have described the presence of thriving Arab Muslim communities scattered along the Konkan-Gujarat coast. Suleiman of Basra who reached

Thana Thana means "police station" in South Asian countries, and can also mean the district controlled by a police station. * Thanas of Bangladesh, former subdistricts in the administrative geography of Bangladesh; later renamed ''upazila'' * in (Briti ...

in 841 AD, observed that the

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

empire which extended from

to Chaul during his time, was on friendly terms with the Arabs and Balhara kings appointed Arab merchant princes as governors and administrators in their vast kingdom.

Ibn Hawqal Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronicler who travelled during the ye ...

, a 10th-century Muslim Arab geographer and chronicler while on his travels observed that mosques flourished in four cities of Gujarat that had Hindu kings, with mosques being found in Cambay, Kutch, Saymur and Patan, alluding to an atmosphere where Muslim foreigners were assimilated into the local milieu of medieval Gujarati societies. His well-known Iranian contemporary

Estakhri Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arab ...

, the Persian medieval geographer who traveled to Cambay and other regions of Gujarat during the same period, echoed the words spoken by his predecessors alongside his itineraries.

Al-Masudi Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...

, an Arab historian from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

who was a descendant of

Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud Abdullah ibn Masūd, or Abdullah ibn Masood, or Abdullah Ben Messaoud ( ar, عبد الله بن مسعود, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʽūd; c.594-c.653), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who he is regarded the greatest mufassir of Qu ...

, a companion of Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

traveled to Gujarat in 918 C.E. and bore written witness account that more than 10,000 Arab Muslims from

Siraf Bandar Siraf ( fa, بندر سیراف), also Romanized as Bandar-e Sīraf; also known as Sīraf, Ṭāherī, and Tāhiri; as well as Bandar-e Ṭāherī and Bandar-i Ṭāhirī ( fa, بندر طاهری, Bandar-e Ṭāherī), is a city in the Ce ...

(Persia)

Madha The Omani territory of Madha ( ar, مَدْحَاء, madḥāʾ) or ''Wādī Madḥāʾ'' ( ar, وَادِي مَدْحَاء) is an exclave of the Musandam Governorate, enclaved by the United Arab Emirates (UAE); inside it, there is a second-or ...

in Oman, Hadhramaut in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, Baghdad, and other cities in the Middle East, had settled in the seaport of Chamoor, a port close to

. Despite the medieval conquest of Gujarat by

and its annexation to the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

in the 13th century, peaceful Islamic settlements appear to have continued under Hindu rule. Bi-lingual Indian inscriptions from Somnath in Sanskrit and Arabic, make reference to the Arab and Iranian shipowners who constructed mosques in Gujarat from the grants given to Muslims by the Vaghela rajput ruler, Arjunadeva. Similar epitaphs mention the arrival of pious Muslim nakhudas from Hormuz as well as families from Bam residing in Cambay, and from the discovery of tombstones of personages from

, at the time one of the most important ports on the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf, suggests altogether that the Muslim community of

Junagadh Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. Literally t ...

had a strong and established link with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

through the commercial sea routes. The 19th century ''European Gazetteer'' by George Newenham Wright, corroborates this cultural exchange through the ages as he points out that the Arab inhabitants of

Mukalla Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east of ...

, capital city of the

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

coastal region in

, were known to intermarry with the Muslims of

and those resident from other areas of Gujarat. Arabic sources speak of the warm reception of the significant immigration of Hadhrami ''sāda'' (descendants of

Muhammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

) who settled in

during the

Gujarat Sultanate The Gujarat Sultanate (or the Sultanate of Guzerat), was a Medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The dynasty was founded by Sultan Zafar Khan Muza ...

. Prominent and well respected Sāda who claimed noble descent through

Abu Bakr al-Aydarus Abu Bakr al-ʿAydarūs, also known as Sayyid Abū Bakr al- ʿAdanī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAydarūs ( ar, أبو بكر العدني بن عبد الله العيدروس; 1447–1508J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, ''The Sufi Orders in Isl ...

("Patron Saint of Aden"), were held in high esteem among the people and became established as Arab religious leaderships of local Muslims. Intermarriages with Indian Muslim women were highly sought which led to a creole Hadhrami-Indian community to flourish in Gujarat by the 17th century. Early 14th-century

Maghrebi Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Alger ...

adventurer,

Ibn Batuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim wor ...

, who visited India with his entourage, recalls in his memoirs about Cambay, one of the great emporia of the Indian Ocean that indeed: In the 17th century, the eminent city of Surat, famous for its cargo export of silk and

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

had come on a par with contemporary

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

which were some of the great mercantile cities of Europe and Asia, and earned the distinguished title, ''Bab al-Makkah'' (Gate of Mecca) because it is one of the great places of the subcontinent where ancient Hindus welcomed Islam and it flourished as time went on.

Diverse Origins - DNA Testing

More recently Yunus Aswat has been leading an online project called
Gujarati Muslims
to find the diverse origins of Gujarati Muslims through DNA testing.

Notable Gujarati Muslims

Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera (born 1974) is a Sunni Islamic scholar, author, and founder of Whitethread Institute and Zamzam Academy. He authored ''Fiqh al-Imam'' and ''Healthy Muslim Marriage''. He featured in the 2020 edition of The 500 Mos ...

of the UK who is a prominent Islamic Scholar once listed as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world,

Ismail ibn Musa Menk Ismail ibn Musa Menk ( ar, إسماعيل بن موسى منك, translit=ʾismāʿīl ibn mūsā mink) (born 27 June 1975) is a Zimbabwean Islamic scholar, best known as Mufti Menk. He is the Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe's Muslim community, which ma ...

, another prominent Islamic Scholar also of Gujarati descent,

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman, investor, engineer, and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as ...

Chairman of

Wipro Limited Wipro Limited (formerly, Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited) is an Indian multinational corporation that provides information technology, consulting and business process services. Thierry Delaporte is serving as CEO and managing directo ...

, South African cricketer

Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 ...

, South African Quran - Bible Scholar

Ahmed Deedat Ahmed Husein Deedat ( gu, અહમદ હુસેન દીદત; ur, Arabic: احمد حسين ديدات), also known as Ahmed Deedat (1 July 1918 – 8 August 2005), was a self-taught Muslim thinker, author, and orator on Comparative ...

, Caribbean eschatologist and Islamic scholar Imran N. Hosein,

Badruddin Tyabji Badruddin Tyabji (10 October 1844 – 19 August 1906) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician during British Raj. Tyabji was the first Indian to practice as a barrister of the High Court of Bombay who served as the third President of ...

, a Congress president and

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

, the founding father of Pakistan. Bollywood is represented by

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...

who is half Gujarati Muslim,

Farooq Shaikh Farooq Shaikh (25 March 1948 − 28 December 2013) was an Indian actor, philanthropist and television presenter. He was best known for his work in Hindi films from 1973 to 1993 and for his work in television between 1988 and 2002. He returned to ...

Nushrat Bharucha Nushrratt Bharuccha (born Nushrat Bharucha; 17 May 1985) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi cinema. She has appeared in films like '' Love Sex Aur Dhokha'', '' Pyaar Ka Punchnama'', ''Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2'', ''Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety'', '' ...

, and

Sanjeeda Sheikh Sanjeeda Sheikh (born 20 December 1984) is an Indian actress who works in the Hindi television industry. She is one of the most famous actresses on Indian television. Early life She was born in Kuwait into a religious Muslim family who hail ...

. Famous Indian film score composers include

Salim–Sulaiman Salim–Sulaiman is an Indian score composer duo consisting of siblings Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant. The duo compose music predominantly for Hindi films. Life and early career Salim–Sulaiman's ancestral town is Mundra, Kutch, Gujar ...

Merchant who are

and

Taher Saifuddin Taher Saifuddin (4 August 1888 – 12 November 1965), also known as Tahir Sayf al-Din, was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and establishe ...

, who was the 51st

Da'i al-Mutlaq The term Da'i al-Mutlaq ( ar, الداعي المطلق, al-Dā'ī al-Mutlaq; pl. , ) literally meaning 'the absolute, or unrestricted, missionary', is the most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma'ilism. The Da'i al-Mutlaq has heade ...

of the

Dawoodi Bohras The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, Sout ...

, a sect within

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

. Famous political activists such as

Ahmed Timol Ahmed Timol (3 November 1941 – 27 October 1971) was an anti-apartheid activist in the underground South African Communist Party. He died at the age of 29 from injuries sustained when he fell from the top floor of John Vorster Square police st ...

Yusuf Dadoo Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo (5 September 1909 – 19 September 1983) was a South African Communist and an anti-apartheid activist. During his life, he was chair of both the South African Indian Congress and the South African Communist Party ...

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Con ...

, Ebrahim Aswat and his daughters

Zainab Asvat Dr. Zainab Asvat (born c. 1920 - 30 November 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Asvat was trained as a medical doctor, but was politically active most of her life. Asvat was the first Muslim woman to become a doctor in South Afri ...

and

Amina Cachalia Amina Cachalia, OLB (née Asvat; 28 June 1930 – 31 January 2013) was a South African anti-Apartheid activist, women's rights activist, and politician. She was a longtime friend and ally of former President Nelson Mandela. Her late husband w ...

played a leading role in the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...

of South Africa.

References

{{Authority control Islam in India by location Social groups of Pakistan * Social groups of Gujarat * *