Kharwa, or Kharva, (

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

ISO 15919 ISO 15919 is an international standard for the romanization of Indic scripts. Published in 2001, it is part of a series of romanization standards by the International Organization for Standardization. Overview Relation to other systems ...

: ''Khārvā'') are a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

from

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 ...

, India.

History

The Kharwa community is distributed throughout the coastal areas of

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

and Kutch. Kharwas from Diu also migrated to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and later from there to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. The

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

Chatrapati shivaji maharaj king of maratha requested to recruited Kharwas from Gujarat port like diu khambat etc along with Bhandaris and

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Nepal. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas they also work as fishermen along with agriculture. In the beginning of 20th ce ...

in large numbers of maratha navy. Kharwas were skilled sailors / Caption and seamen who had experience on the seas having traveled to places as far away as Aden, Zanzibar and Singapore. Australia They were also experienced with building ships.

Society and culture

Mama fui marriage is practised amongst the Kharwas.

Religion

Beliefs and practices

Kharwa are

and worship various forms of

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

, including

Ambaji Ambaji (''Ambājī'') is a census town in Banaskantha district in the state of Gujarat, India. Geography Ambaji is a town within taluka district Banaskantha, North Gujarat, India. It is located at . It is at an altitude of . It is surrounde ...

Bhadrakali Bhadrakali (IAST: Bhadrakālī; ) is an important goddess, mainly worshiped by Hindus, and is a form of Kali. She is considered to be the auspicious and fortunate form of Adi Shakti or Durga, the supreme mother who protects the good, known ...

, Bahuchara and

Chamunda Chamunda (, ), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu mother goddess, Mahadevi and is one of the seven Matrikas.Wangu p.72 She is also one of the chief Yoginis, a group of sixty-four or ...

in Porbandar. Other ''Mātās'' worshiped include ''Samudrī, Sikotarī'' and '' Hinglāj.'' In Kutch ''Khojī, Dilvadī, Mamai, Padmani, Poravel'' and ''Veravali'' ''Mātās'' are also worshiped. Dariyalal is another important deity worshipped by Kharwas and other seafaring communities, including Muslim communities. The Kharwas of

Mandvi Mandvi is a beach town with municipality in the Kutch district, Kachchh district (Kutch) in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch ...

tend to be Vaishnavs, while those of

Veraval Somnath, also known as Veraval, is a city and the headquarters of Gir Somnath district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. Somnath temple, a place of pilgrimage due to its importance as one of the 12 Jyotirlinga si ...

are

Shaivites Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...

Festivals

Like other marine communities, Kharwas celebrate the opening of the seafaring season, after the passage of the Monsoon on Narial Purnima which falls on the full moon in the month of Śravaṇ. Various offerings, including flowers, coconuts and incense sticks are offered to the deity of the sea,

Samudra Samudra (Sanskrit: समुद्र; ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "gathering together of waters" (''-'' "together" and ''-udra'' "water"). It refers to an ocean, sea or confluence. It also forms the name of Samudradeva (Sanskrit: ...

. Shravan Purnnima is celebrated with

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...

, Marut,

Parjanya Parjanya (, ) according to the Vedas is a deity of rain, thunder, lightning, and the one who fertilizes the earth. It is another epithet of Indra, the Vedic deity of the sky and heaven. Description It is assumed Parjanya is the udder and lightning ...

and ''Ratnākar'' are worshiped, with Ganesha to remove any obstacles from their upcoming journeys into the sea. On Bhadravi Amavasya, a fair is held to propitiate Shiva. A lingam is installed along the coast and as the water level rises around it, it is believed that the spirit of Samudra has entered. Another fair is held on the birthday of Dariyalal on the second day of

Chaitra Chaitra () is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Cha ...

, where sweet rice is eaten as

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Present circumstances

Importing and exporting goods by ship remains the traditional occupation of the community. They trade in many countries, including Oman, U.A.E, Somalia, and also other parts of Africa. Many Kharwa now have their own ships for exporting goods and have set up different cooperative societies.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kharwa (Caste) Social groups of Gujarat Indian castes