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Khojas
The Khoja are a caste of Muslims mainly members of the Nizari Ismaʿiliyyah sect of Islam with a minority of followers of Shia Islam originating the western Indian subcontinent, and converted to Islam from Hinduism by the 14th century by the Persian ''pīr'' (religious leader or teacher) Saḍr-al-Dīn.. "Khoja, Persian Khvājeh, caste of Indian Muslims converted from Hinduism to Islam in the 14th century by the Persian pīr (religious leader or teacher) Saḍr-al-Dīn and adopted as members of the Nizārī Ismāʿīliyyah sect of the Shīʿites." In India, most Khojas live in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and the city of Hyderabad. In Pakistan, most Khoja live in Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta in Sindh province, and in Gwadar in Balochistan province. There is a diaspora of Khojas and they are known by many names such as the Lawatia in the Gulf and Karana in Madagascar. The Khoja originally observed Hinduism and then became adherents of Nizari Isma'ilism. ...
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Aga Khan Case
The Aga Khan case was an 1866 court decision in the High Court of Bombay by Justice Sir Joseph Arnould that established the authority of the first Aga Khan, Hasan Ali Shah, as the head of the Khoja community of Bombay. The case was officially a property dispute between a subset of dissident leaders of the Bombay Khojas and the Aga Khan, a Persian nobleman who had arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1846 and was regarded by his followers, including most Khojas, as their rightful leader and the 46th imam of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims. The dissidents rejected the Aga Khan's claim on authority by arguing that he was not a Khoja and that the Khojas had always been Sunni Muslims. As part of adjudicating the dispute, Arnould undertook an extensive examination of the religious background of the Khoja caste. After a 25-day trial, which included testimony from the Aga Khan and a review of numerous documents, Arnould found in favor of the Aga Khan, ruling that the Khojas were Shia Ismailis ...
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Al-Lawatia
Al-Lawatia ( English: The Lawatis; ; , sing. Lawati) are a prominent merchant tribe originally from the Sindh region and now mainly based in the province of Muscat, Oman. They are known globally as Khojas but in the Gulf are more commonly referred to as Lawatis due to them being speakers of Lawati, a Sindhi based language. There are around 30,000 Luwatis (or 1% of Omanis) in Oman. Many Lawati families of successful merchants of the past are now involved in large multi-faceted corporations participating in the development of the region. Some Lawati Khowaja can also be found in Gwadar who settled there during 1800-1958 during the period it was part of Oman, they are known by the surname Azim and Al Azim. Origins The Lawatia (or Lawatiyya) community in Muttrah in Muscat has its origins in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Lawatia are Sindhi Khoja by origin. They immigrated to Oman between 1780 and 1850. Luwatis converted to Twelver Shia Islam in the 19th century from Ism ...
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Indians In Madagascar
The so-called 'Karana or Karane' are a generally Muslim racial group in Madagascar with a long history on the island. A large proportion of them arrived on the north-west port of Mahajanga in the early 1880s. The Malagasy term Karana mainly refers to Khoja (a Muslim tribe which was once based on the Indian subcontinent) families on the island who control the economic affairs of the country due to their good business acumen. The term does, however, sometimes include Indian and occasionally even Pakistani (extremely few in number) families though the Khoja make up the sizeable majority. Though they have contributed greatly to the nation's development, unlike their counterparts, the Al-Lawatia in Oman, they do not enjoy the same level of acceptance and freedom with kidnappings rife and a lack of acceptance into the institution both politically and otherwise. Estimates of Karana population is 400,000. The group migrated from the Indian subcontinent somewhere between five and fiftee ...
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Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the Demographics of Pakistan, second-largest province by population after Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan to the west and north-west and Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab to the north. It shares an India-Pakistan border, International border with the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east; it is also bounded by the Arabian Sea to the south. Sindh's landscape consists mostly of alluvial plains flanking the Indus River, the Thar Desert of Sindh, Thar Desert in the eastern portion of the province along the India–Pakistan border, international border with India, and the Kirthar Mountains in the western portion of ...
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Gujarati Language
Gujarati ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Western Rājasthāni, Old Gujarati (). In India, it is one of the 22 Languages with official status in India, scheduled languages of the Union. It is also the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As of 2011, Gujarati is the List of languages by number of native speakers in India, 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population. It is the List of languages by number of native speakers, 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. Asteri ...
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Kutchi Language
Kutchi (; કચ્છી, , ڪڇّي, ) or Kachhi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kutch region of Gujarat, and some parts of Rajasthan, India and Sindh, Pakistan. The Jadeja rulers of Cutch and Rajputs of Kutch, speak Kutchi language. Apart from Rajputs, Kutchi Jains, Kutchi Lohana, Kutchi Rabari, Sidis of Kutch even today use Kutchi in their home as language of communication. Influences from other languages Some scholars have considered Kutchi to be a dialect of Sindhi, but the two languages are quite distinct from one another. Over time, it has borrowed vocabulary from Gujarati. The variety of Kutchi spoken in Sindh and in the Banni region of Kutch is more similar to the Lari dialect of Sindhi, whereas the Kutchi spoken in the eastern parts of Kutch has more Gujarati influence, and is slowly becoming more similar to Gujarati. Most Kutchis living in India are bilingual or trilingual, due to exposure to closely related neighbouring languages such as Gujara ...
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Gwadar
Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a population of over 90,000, according to the 2017 Pakistani Census, 2017 census. It was an overseas possession of Oman from 1783 to Gwadar Purchase, 1958. It is about southwest of Turbat. The sister port city of Chabahar in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, Sistan and Baluchestan province is about to the west of Gwadar. On 2 April 2021, it was declared the winter capital of Balochistan. The main industrial concern is a fish-processing factory. Gwadar became part of the sultanate of Muscat and Oman in 1797, and it was not until 1958 that the town and adjoining hinterland were exchanged from Oman to Pakistan. Gwadar came in the focus of attention after the Kargil War when Pakistan felt the need of having a military naval port and the Karachi ...
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Balochistan, Pakistan
Balochistan (; ; , ) is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the north-east, Punjab to the east and Sindh to the south-east; shares international borders with Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north; and is bound by the Arabian Sea to the south. Balochistan is an extensive plateau of rough terrain divided into basins by ranges of sufficient heights and ruggedness. It has a large deep sea port, the Port of Gwadar lying in the Arabian Sea. Although it makes up about 44% of the land area of Pakistan, only 5% of it is arable and it is noted for an extremely dry desert climate. Despite this, agriculture and livestock make up about 47% of Balochistan's economy. The name " Balochistan" means "the land of the Baloch people". Largely underdeveloped, its economy is also dominated by n ...
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Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical NameWorking Paper No. 61, 23rd Session, Vienna, 28 March – 4 April 2006. accessed 9 October 2010 It is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz. The river delta of the Shatt al-Arab forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive reefs (mostly rocky, but also Coral reef, coral), and abundant pearl oysters, however its ecology has been damaged by industrialization and oil spills. The Persian Gulf is in the Persian Gulf Basin, which is of Cenozoic origin and related to the subduction of the Arabian plate under the Zagros Mountains. The current flooding of the basin started 15,000 years ago due to sea level rise, rising sea levels of ...
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Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories of India by area, fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the List of states and union territories of India by population, ninth-most populous state, with a population of 60.4 million in 2011. It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Gujarat's capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujarati people, Gujaratis are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati language, Gujarati, is the state's official language. The state List of Indus Valley civilisation sites#List of Indus Valley sites discovered, ...
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Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, fourth largest island, the List of island countries, second-largest island country, and the List of countries and dependencies by area, 46th largest country overall. Its capital and List of cities in Madagascar, largest city is Antananarivo. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from Africa during the Early Jurassic period, around 180 million years ago, and separated from the Indian subcontinent approximately 90 million years ago. This isolation allowed native plants and animals to evolve in relative seclusion; as a result, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, with over 90% of its wildlife of Madagascar, wildlife being endemic. The island has ...
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Thatta
Thatta is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Its construction was ordered by Jam Nizamuddin II in 1495. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and around the city. Thatta's Makli Necropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is site of one of the world's largest cemeteries and has numerous monumental tombs built between the 14th and 18th centuries designed in a syncretic funerary style characteristic of lower Sindh. The city's 17th century Shah Jahan Mosque is richly embellished with decorative tiles, and is considered to have the most elaborate display of tile work in the South Asia. Etymology ''Thatta'' refers to riverside settlements. Villagers in the rural areas of lower Sindh often refer to the city as ''Thatta Nagar'', or simply ''Nagar''. The name of Thatta, one of the oldest towns, was derived from the Persian term ''Tah-Tah'' which ...
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