Jamnagar

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This essay and others like it on Khojawiki are written to provide context for the life and migration stories of individual Khoja families. We would like to add more such family histories of those who lived here, so our collective history is more complete. Please Click Here To Add Your Family And More Information To Our History

History of the Khojas in Jamnagar State

According to community oral history, the Khojas had the traditional protection of the Jadeja Rajput rulers of Sindh and fled with them to Kutch after the Jadejas defeat against the Samna Muslim tribes of Sindh in early 1400's. This is plausible as the Jadejas were amongst the many fluid and syncretic peoples of Kutch and Kathiawar, which was a contested zone between Islamist conquerors and Indic populations and their rulers, for over a millennia.

The Jádejás have for long been half Hindus half Musalmáns. At the time of Mahmud Begada's conquest (1472), though appearing pagans in their practice, they were anxious to learn the true doctrines of Islám, to some heretical form of which, they had long been converted. In Akbar's time (1590) they were still Musalmáns (A'in-i-Akbari, II. 72), and till the beginning of the present century (1800's),they were quite as much Musalmán as Hindu. In 1818, they took oaths on the Kurán, considered it an authority in law and morals, followed its rules about eating, married freely with Musalman families, and worshipped in mosques. (MacMurdo. Trans. Bom. Lit. Soc. II. 237). Since then under the influences noted above (p. 63, note 3), they have, to a great extent, gone back to their first faith.[1]

Following a fatal family feud amongst the Jadejas, the Mughal Emperor Jahanghir decided to attack the Jadeja chief, Jam Rawal and so the Jam fled with his entourage out of Kutch, conquered the town of Dhrol and its dependencies in Kathiawar which he bestowed under the rule of his brother Hardholji and went on to conquer other parts of Kathiawar to form his new kingdom.[2] On the 7th day of the bright half of the month of Srawan, VS 1956 (August 1540 AD) on the banks of two rivers Rangmati and Nagmati, he lay the foundation of his new capital and named it Nawanagar (new town). Nawanagar eventually came to be known as Jamnagar meaning the Town of the Jams.[3]

In terms of political and military power and economic potential, Nawanagar (founded by Jam Rawal, a political faction which left Kachh in the middle of the sixteenth century) happened to be the most important of these chieftaincies in the peninsula (Abul Fazl 1978: 256). Also known as Little Kachh (Kachh-i khurd) in Mughal accounts, Nawanagar was another sarkar in the province of Gujarat that remained outside of Mughal imperial control. [4]

According to popular folklore, the Khojas received grants of free land across the new Jamnagar State from Jam Rawal and went on to establish themselves in all the centres of Kathiawar as traders as well as farmers.

..someone in Mundra connected me to a Mr. Jadeja - a Rajput from Dhrafa. Met and Spoke to him in 2017 - he said that the Rajputs and Khojas Ismailis walked from Jamnagar to Dhrafa, as they could all claim land. There was a thriving Ismaili merchant class there, a Jamatkhana also; and Mohamedali Jinnah was born in Dharafa" [5]

See Kanji Jetha Lala a Khoja cultivator with inherited land from the Jam. See Lakha Manji Lalji Surji, a Khoja cultivator from Jamnagar area.

Various merchant communities including the Marwari (originally from Marwar in present day Rajasthan, but dispersed over a large part of the trading world of Eurasia), Bhatia, Khoja, and Memon created extensive inland and overseas trading networks. [6]

In the Kathiawar region much cotton was produced as well, mainly in Nawanagar and some parts of Sorath.9 The former was a major center of textile production where the water of the river Rangmati was particularly suitable for bleaching and printing cloth (Ali Mohammad Khan Khatma 1930:[7]

The Khojas, with their extensive jati communal networks with the exporters from Mundra & Mandvi and their overseas connections in the Western Indian Ocean in Muscat, the Persian Gulf and Eastern Africa including Mozambique and Madagascar, were instrumental in the prosperity of Jamnagar state from its inception.

The agronomy of Kachh and Nawanagar (as that of Ahmadabad, Broach, Baroda, and Surat) had apparently been well commercialized at least since the seventeenth century. Cash crops like indigo and cotton occupied a good proportion of the total cultivable land. Peasants and artisans too seem to have worked in conformity with the demand for particular commodities in order to squeeze the maximum advantage from what was probably a sellers’ market (Prakash 1998: 343). [8]

Khoja merchants were involved in the purchase and export of textiles from the Jamnagar area, through the port of Mandvi, to sell to the Dutch East India Company around 1753.

..the Dutch soon contemplated to ask permission from the Raja of Nawanagar to be allowed to trade at that place.25 They got the desired permission through a parwana (a formal letter/an order) issued by the Raja which gave the Company access to this potential region for trading purposes. [9]

In the subsequent centuries, many Khojas migrated to Zanzibar and later, others to Mombasa, on their way to establishing successful business ventures in Eastern Africa and the rest of the world.

See Rajan Lalji of Mombasa. See Harji Bhanji Jetha of Zanzibar. See Kaderbhoy Adam of Bombay. See Daya Kanji Asani of East Africa,

References & Notes

  1. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay-Printed at Government Central Press,1880. Kindle Location 1780
  2. Once on a hunting trip on the land of present-day Jamnagar, a hare was found to be brave enough to turn on the hunting dogs and putting them to flight. Deeply impressed by this, Jam Rawal thought that if this land can breed such hares, the men born here would be superior than other men, and accordingly made this place his capital.
  3. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Volume V: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha. Bombay-Printed at Government Central Press,1880. Kindle Location 1790
  4. Nadri, Ghulam. Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill- Kindle Location 87-90
  5. Oral report from by Shiraz Nanji of London, a community historian and recent traveler to Kathiawar
  6. Nadri,Ghulam.Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill- Kindle Location 190-192
  7. Nadri,Ghulam.Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill - Kindle Location 168-170
  8. Nadri,Ghulam.Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill- Kindle Location 171-174
  9. Nadri,Ghulam.Exploring the Gulf of Kachh: Regional Economy and Trade in the Eighteenth Century-Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Vol. 51, No. 3 (2008), pp. 460-486 (27 pages) Published By: Brill- Kindle Location Location 329-331

Personal Histories of Jamnagar residents in Khojawiki (2024)

Madhavjee Jessani

Velji Nathani

Rahim Ajmudin Samnani

Amit Ajmudin Samnani

Issabhai Ismail Virani

Manoj Mahamadali Devani

Chandoo Damani

Hirji Velji Nathani

Lalpur, Kathiawar

Hirji Jessani Kala

Nasar Jindani

Jadavji Walji Bhatia

Jafarali Ibrahim Samnani

Asim A. Samnani

Abji Kanji Bhatia

Sunderji Mitha

Lakha Manji Lalji Surji

Nanbai Virji

Suleman Dewji Khimani

Mansurali Virani

Sunderji Samji

Esmail Ali

Ismail Bhallo

Mohamed Dewshi

Haider Pirbhai Jetha

Ali Chandoo Damani

Jenaben Jafarali Samnani

Lalji Kara Samji Abhwani

Kassam JETHA

Pyarali Jafarali Samnani

Rahim Haiderali Popatia

Shahbudin Jafarali Samnani

Walbai Samji

Lalji Samji

Mohamed Jaffer Damji

Amir Lakhoo Bhatia

Vali Parpiya

Nazerali Lalji Kara Abhwani

Mehboob Madhavjee Jessani

Ahmed Manji Rajwani

Walji Virji Jetha

Samji Rajput

Abdulla Esmail Rawji

Ebrahim Kassam Lalji Nanji

Jenabai Mawji Kanji

Kara Samji Abhwani

Bhimji Kothari

Jaffer Bhanji

Mawji Kanji

Rajan Lalji

Jafferali Dhanji Bhatia

Harji Bhanji Jetha

Adam Adu

Mithabhai Nathoo

Kassamali Hirji Jessani

Karmali Bhanji

Nanbai Nanji Giga

Hassan Walji

Esmail Nanji

Hassanali Nanji Giga

Pardhan Bhanji

Aminbhai Nazerali Lalji Abhwani

Akber Maherali Sorathia

Nurmohamed Jeraj Shariff

Jeraj Shariff

Daya Kanji Asani

Kanji Jetha Lala

Kanji Asani

Panju Kanji Asani

Dewji Kanji Asani

Ramji Kanji Asani

Karmali Alibhai

Alibhai Lalji Kara Abhwani

Amersi Manji Lakhani

Mohamedali Suleman Meghji

Samji Kanji Asani

Najmudin Kassam Dewji

Kaderbhoy Adam

Walji Kanji

Zehra Jaffer Gulamali

Mohomed Nasar Jindani

Fazal Lalji Samji

MOHAMED SULEMAN

Moledina Meghji

Maherali Rahemtulla

Gulshan Karmali Bhanji

Fatma Karmali Bhanji

Fatehali Karmali Bhanji

Yusuf Karmali Alibhai

Sikina Jetha Karim

Juma Lalji Ladha

Ghulam Hussain Mohammad Jindani

Dhanji Jadavji Bhatia

Hussein Alibhai Hasham Mullani

Maheroon Mawji

Hassanali Walji Kanji

Alladina Giga Patney

Rahemtulla Walji Virji

Hassanali Nasser Welji

Ibrahim Rahimtoola

Khudabaksh Talib

Photo Gallery of Jamnagar

Notes and References