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Kutchi Memons are an ethnic group or caste from Kutch in Gujarat, India, who speak the Kutchi language. They are related to the Memons associated with the historic state of Kathiawar, a Muslim community of Pakistan and India, who speak the Memoni language. Transliteration of name of this Memon community has now been standardized. Hence popular usage is Cutchi and Kutchi.
Kutchi Memons originally practiced Hinduism and converted to Islam under influence of Sunni pirs. [1] [2] Kutchi Memons migrated from Sindh to Kutch in Gujarat, a state of India, after their conversion to Islam in 1422 CE; the Memon belonged to the Lohana community. [3] Historically, Kutch was a princely state and this kingdom included Bhuj, Anjar, Lakhpath, Mandvi, etc. The Kutchi Memons are now spread all over India (mostly in Mobasa and Nairobi, to name a few. Hamid Noorani is a kutchi speaking memon who has lived all of his life in kenya), as well as in the globe, where they form part of the Indian diaspora (cf. Kutchi Memons in Bombay ). Though Kutchi Memons historically spoke Kutchi, use of this language has sharply declined, and many Kutchi Memons (particularly those who reside in urban areas) have adopted Urdu and other more dominant tongues. Scholars have conducted detailed studies about the origin and development of this community.
Kutchi Memons are a highly endogamous community, where marriages are arranged within their own ethnic group. Humeirah, a novel by Sabah Carrim, delves into the nitty-gritty details of the life of the fictitious eponymous character, a Kutchi Memon, and the pressures of an endogamous and ethnocentric community on her and other characters. The novel is set on the island of Mauritius where a community of about one thousand Kutchi Memons live.
Kutchi Memons are a predominantly business community and are known for their Philanthropy. Being part of the Indian diaspora, the Kutchi Memons are spread all over India, as well as the globe [4] and have erected many mosques all over the world. [5] A large number of Kutchi Memons settled down in Kerala in 1815. [6]
The Kutchi Memon Masjid, Mangalore (also known locally as the Katchi Palli) is a religious centre located opposite the famous Bombay Lucky Restaurant in Mangalore. It was built in 1839 by Kutchi Memon spice traders from Gujarat. In 1930, this mosque was the first to get electric supply and the fourth to get electrified in Mangalore, during the British rule. It was also the first to use loudspeakers to call for Azan, and the first in Mangalore where the Friday sermon was delivered in Urdu. [7]
The Memon are a Muslim community in Gujarat India, and Sindh, Pakistan, the majority of whom follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. They are divided into different groups based on their origins: Kathiawari Memons, Kutchi Memons and Bantva Memons from the Kathiawar, Kutch and Bantva regions of Gujarat respectively, and Sindhi Memons from Sindh.
Kutchi or Kachhi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kutch region of India and Sindh region of Pakistan.
The Khoja are a mainly Nizari Isma'ili Shia community of people from the western Indian subcontinent. Khojas predominantly reside in India, Pakistan and eastern Africa.
Islam in Mauritius is the nation's third largest religion behind Hinduism and Christianity. Muslims constitute over 17.3 per cent of Mauritius population. Muslims of Mauritius are mostly of Indian descent. Large numbers of Muslims arrived in Mauritius during the British regime, starting in 1834 as part of the large-scale indentured labor force from India.
Bhatia is a group of people and a caste found in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat. Traditionally, they have been a trading and merchant community. The Bhatias primarily live in Northwestern India and Pakistan. The Bhatias, Lohanas and Khatris were similar communities and were known to intermarry. The Bhatias recruit Saraswat Brahmins as priests.
Memoni is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Kathiawari Memons, from the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, India. Memon from Okha Port, Kutch and some other communities from Kathiawad also use Memoni at their homes.
Lohana are a trading or mercantile jāti mostly in India and also in Pakistan.
Kutchi may refer to:
The Kutchi people traditionally hail from the Kutch district of the western Indian state of Gujarat and the Sindh region of Pakistan.
Islam arrived in Kerala, the Malayalam-speaking region in the south-western tip of India, through Middle Eastern merchants. The Indian coast has an ancient relation with West Asia and the Middle East, even during the pre-Islamic period.
Sunni Vohras or Sunni Bohras, are a community from the state of Gujarat in India. Sharing the same name as the Dawoodi Bohras, they are often confused with that community. A few families use the slightly different spelling of "Vora" or "Vahora" as their surname. Another common surname is Patel.
Satpanth is a Sanskrit term used by Ismailis to identify their Tariqa formed around 600 years ago by Pir Sadardin. Pir Sadardin Imamshah Bawa, was a Shia Ismaili Da'i who founded the Satpanth Tariqa around 600 years ago, and taught tolerance, perennialism and syncretism of all religions, putting a particular emphasis on the syncretism of Islam and Hinduism.
The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have the Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities have Urdu as their mother tongue. The majority of Gujarati Muslims are Sunni, with a minority of Shi'ite groups.
Dhoraji Colony is a neighbourhood in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, which is located between UC-1 and UC-2. The demarcation separating the two Union Councils runs from the National Stadium Road, towards Selani Chowk, past ZVMG Rangoonwala Community Centre via Siraj-ud-Daula road.
The Nakhoda Musjid is the principal mosque of Kolkata, India, in the Chitpur area of the Burrabazar business district in Central Kolkata, at the intersection of Zakaria Street and Rabindra Sarani.
Wagher, Vagher or Waghir is a jāti from the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat in India. Some Waghers are Hindu and others are Muslim. They speak Kutchi as a mother tongue.
Memon may refer to:
Bhanushali is a Hindu community. The majority reside in Kutch district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Some are also found in the Saurashtra region and other parts of Gujarat. Some have also moved to Thane and Mumbai region of Maharashtra. They speak Kutchi language which is alike Gujarati.
Sindhi Hindus are Sindhis who follow Hinduism. They are spread across modern-day Sindh, Pakistan and India. After the partition of India in 1947, many Sindhi Hindus were among those who fled from Pakistan to the dominion of India, in what was a wholesale exchange of Hindu and Muslim populations in some areas. Some later emigrated from the Indian subcontinent and settled in other parts of the world.
Kharadar is a neighbourhood in District South of Karachi, Pakistan. Kharadar and the adjacent communities of Mithadar and Jodia Bazaar together form what is regarded as the original core of Karachi.
Since the Cutchi Memons were originally Hindus, the judges in bygone cases found it easy to infer that they had preserved their whole original personal law, even after conversion .
Thus, it was established that Khojas and Memons converted from Hinduism under the influence of Ismai'li and Sunni pirs, respectively.
The Memons are converts from Hinduism, quite possibly from the Lohana community of Sindh and Kutch.