Gujarati people
The Gujarati people, or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. Gujaratis have diaspora across India as well in a large number of countries around the world.
Geographical locations
Despite significant migration primarily for economic reasons, most Gujaratis in India live in the state of Gujarat in Western India. Gujaratis also form a significant part of the populations in the neighbouring metropolis of Mumbai and union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, formerly colonial possessions of Portugal. There are very large Gujarati immigrant communities in other parts of India, most notably in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and other cities like Kochi. All throughout history. Gujaratis have earned a reputation as merchants, industrialists and business entrepreneurs and have therefore been at forefront of migrations all over the world, particularly to regions that were part of the British Empire such as Fiji, Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, East Africa, and South Africa. Diasporas and transnational networks in many of these countries date back to more than a century. In recent decades, larger numbers of Gujaratis have migrated to English-speaking countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.History
In anthropological surveys conducted in India about 60% of the people claim that their community is a migrant to their state or region. In Gujarat that number is around 70%. In the state, 124 Hindu communities out of 186 claim a migrant past. For example, the Audichya Brahmins claim migration from present day Uttar Pradesh. With Muslims in Gujarat, 67 out of 86 communities claim a migrant past.Early European travellers like Ludovico di Varthema travelled to Gujarat and wrote on the people of Gujarat. He noted that Jainism had a strong presence in Gujarat and opined that Gujaratis were deprived of their kingdom by Mughals because of their kind heartedness. His description of Gujaratis was:
In 1790 and 1791, an epidemic devastated numerous parts of Gujarat during which 100,000 Gujaratis were killed in Surat alone.
An outbreak of bubonic plague in 1812 has been claimed to have killed about half the Gujarati population.
Gujarati mercantile history
Ports on the western coast of India have been engaged in trade for millennia. During the medieval and early modern period, ports in Gujarat such as Diu, Surat, Mandavi, Cambay, and Porbandar became important. Gujarati merchants operating from these ports operated not only in the Indian Ocean in the west but also in Southeast Asia. It is estimated that there were 1000 Gujarati merchants resident in Malacca in fifteenth century with a thousand others operating in the Bay of Bengal and Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Gujarati traders were Muslims but there were Hindu and Jains too despite religious prohibitions. Gujarati merchants operating in Southeast Asia were primarily involved exporting India cotton to Southeast Asia in exchange for spices from the islands which were then exported to Persia. Surat was the principal port for this trade. Gujaratis played a big part in the Indian ocean trade. The Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama noted presence of Muslim and Hindu navigators and merchants from Gujarat in Zanzibar and Pemba and along the East Africa coast in towns such as Kilwa, Bagamoyo, Mombasa and Malindi. International trade by Gujarati merchants increased with the advent of the Gujarat Sultanate at the beginning of the 1400s. The trade involved gold, ivory and slaves from Africa in exchange for cotton and glass beads from India. The important Gujarati traders active in the Indian Ocean trade at different periods of history included Jains; Hindu Bhatias and Lohanas; Muslim Khojas, Memons, and Bohras; and the Parsee communities. The Jains were active during the Solannki period trading with Arabian and Red sea ports. The Portuguese also preferred Jains to the Arab traders.Social stratification
Orthodox Gujarati society, which was mercantile by nature, was historically organised along ethno-religious lines and shaped into existence on the strength of its Mahajan, and for its institution of Nagarsheth ; a 16th-century Mughal system akin to medieval European guilds which self-regulated the mercantile affairs of multi-ethnic, multi-religious communities in the Gujarati bourgeoisie long before municipal state politics was introduced. Historically, Gujaratis belonging to numerous faiths and castes, thrived in an inclusive climate surcharged by a degree of cultural syncretism, in which Hindus and Jains dominated occupations such as shroffs and brokers whereas, Muslims, Hindus and Parsis largely dominated sea shipping trade. This led to religious interdependence, tolerance, assimilation and community cohesion ultimately becoming the hallmark of modern-day Gujarati society.Religion
The Gujarati people are predominantly Hindu. There are also minority communities of Muslims, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jews, and followers of the Baháʼí Faith amongst the Gujaratis.Hindu communities
The major communities in Gujarat are farmers and livestock herders, traders, sailor and seafood exporters, artisan and business communities, Brahmin communities, genealogists, Kshatriya communities, Tribal communities and Devipujak.Muslim communities
The majority of Gujarati Muslims are Sunni Muslim. Minority communities include Twelver, Nizari Ismailis, Daudi Bohra, Khoja, Pathans, Shaikhs, Maliks.Diaspora
Gujaratis have a long tradition of seafaring and a history of overseas migration to foreign lands, to Yemen Oman Bahrain, Kuwait, Zanzibar and other countries in the Persian Gulf since a mercantile culture resulted naturally from the state's proximity to the Arabian Sea. The countries with the largest Gujarati populations are Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and many countries in Southern and East Africa. Globally, Gujaratis are estimated to constitute around 33% of the Indian diaspora worldwide and can be found in 129 of 190 countries listed as sovereign nations by the United Nations. Non Resident Gujaratis maintain active links with the homeland in the form of business, remittance, philanthropy, and through their political contribution to state governed domestic affairs.Gujarati parents in the diaspora are not comfortable with the possibility of their language not surviving them. In a study, 80% of Malayali parents felt that "children would be better off with English", compared to 36% of Kannada parents and only 19% of Gujarati parents.
Pakistan
Significant Gujarati communities existed here before 1947 Partition of India. Many of them migrated after the Partition of India and subsequent creation of Pakistan in 1947. These Pakistani Gujaratis belong mainly to the Ismāʿīlī, Khoja, Dawoodi Bohra, Chundrigar, Charotar Sunni Vohra, Khatri Muslims Kutchi Memons and Khatiawari Memons; however, many Gujaratis are also a part of Pakistan's small Hindu community. A number of them belong to the Dalit community.Estimated to number 3.5 million they virtually all live in Karachi. Community leaders estimate that it roughly amounts to some 15% of Karachi's total population, while also highlighting the dire state of the Gujarati language in the country, with only two newspapers, Vatan and Millat, still serving the community.
United States
The United States has the second-largest Gujarati diaspora after Pakistan. The highest concentration of the population of over 200,000 is in the New York City Metropolitan Area, notably in the growing Gujarati diasporic center of India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Edison in Middlesex County in Central New Jersey. Significant immigration from India to the United States started after the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Early immigrants after 1965 were highly educated professionals. Since US immigration laws allow sponsoring immigration of parents, children and particularly siblings on the basis of family reunion, the numbers rapidly swelled. A number of Gujarati are twice or thrice-migrant because they came directly from the former British colonies of East Africa or from East Africa via Great Britain respectively. Given the Gujarati propensity for business enterprise, a number of them opened shops and motels. While they may make up only around 0.1% of the population in the United States, Gujarati Americans control over 40% of the hospitality market in the country, for a combined net worth of over US$40 billion and employing over one million employees. Gujaratis, especially the Patidar Samaj, also dominate as franchisees of fast food restaurant chains such as Subway and Dunkin' Donuts.Europe
United Kingdom
The third largest overseas diaspora of Gujaratis, after Pakistan and United States, is in the United Kingdom. At a population of around 600,000 Gujaratis form almost more than half of the Indian community who live in the UK. Gujaratis first went to the UK in the 19th century with the establishment of the British Raj in India. Prominent members of this community such as Shyamji Krishna Varma played a vital role in exerting political pressure upon colonial powers during the Indian independence movement.Gujaratis in Britain are regarded as affluent middle-class peoples who have assimilated into the milieu of British society. They are celebrated for revolutionising the corner shop, and energising the British economy which changed Britain's antiquated retail laws forever. Demographically, Hindus form a majority along with a significant number of Jains and Muslims, and smaller numbers of Gujarati Christians. They are predominantly settled in metropolitan areas like Greater London, East Midlands, West Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Cities with significant Gujarati populations include Leicester and London boroughs of Harrow, Barnet and Brent. There is also a small, but vibrant Gujarati-speaking Parsi community of Zoroastrians present in the country, dating back to the bygone era of Dadabhai Navroji, Shapurji Saklatvala and Pherozeshah Mehta. Both Hindus and Muslims have established caste or community associations, temples, and mosques to cater for the needs of their respective communities. A well known temple popular with Gujaratis is the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London. A popular mosque that caters for the Gujarati Muslim community in Leicester is the Masjid Umar. Leicester has a Jain Temple that is also the headquarters of Jain Samaj Europe.
Gujarati Hindus in the UK have maintained many traditions from their homeland. The community remains religious with more than 100 temples catering for their religious needs. All major Hindu festivals such as Navratri, Dassara, and Diwali are celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm even from the generations brought up in UK. Gujarati Hindus also maintain their caste affiliation to some extent with most major castes having their own community association in each population center with significant Gujarati population such as Leicester and London suburbs. Patidars form the largest community in the diaspora including Kutch Leva Patels, followed closely by Lohanas of Saurashtra origin. Gujarati Rajputs from various regional backgrounds are affiliated with several independent British organisations dependent on caste such as Shree Maher Samaj UK, and the Gujarati Arya Kshatriya Mahasabha-UK.
Endogamy remains important to Gujaratis in UK with the existence of matrimonial services specifically dedicated to their community. The Gujarati Muslim society in the UK have kept the custom of 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. Gujarati Muslim communities, such as the Ismāʿīlī, Khoja, Dawoodi Bohra, Sunni Bohra, and Memon have caste associations, known as jamats that run mosques and community centers for their respective communities.