The Khoja are a tribe or caste of Muslims mainly members of the Nizari Ismaÿiliyyah 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 për (religious leader or teacher) Saá¸Âr-al-Dën.
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.
In Oman a large portion of them live in Muscat and in the Arab world they are known as the Lawatia. Across Africa and especially in East Africa, the Khoja have historically dominated business in various fields however many of these families migrated to Europe in the colonial era or immediately afterwards. In Madagascar the Khoja are known by the honorific Karana title and are now concentrated in the capital.
The Khoja originally observed Hinduism and then became adherents of Nizari Isma'ilism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the aftermath of the Aga Khan Case a small minority separated and adopted Sunni Islam and Twelver Shi'ia Islam, while the majority remained Nizari Isma'ili.
The term Khoja derives from KhwÃÂja (New Persian KhÃÂjé), a Persian honorific title (îÃÂçìÃÂ) of pious individuals used in Turco-Persian influenced regions of the Muslim world.
The specific term Khoja in the Gujarati and Sindhi languages, was first bestowed by the Persianate Nizari Isma'ili Sadardin (died c. 15th century) upon his followers during the lifetime of the Nizari Ismaili Imam Islam Shah (1368-1423 CE). As such, Pir Shihab al-din Shah, brother of one of the Nizari Ismaili imams, wrote regarding the origins of the Khojas that the very formation of the community came about through Pir Sadardin's devotion to the Imam.
Many Lohanas of Gujarat converted to Nizari Ismailism due to the efforts of Pir Sadardin. They gradually used the title Khoja. Before the arrival of the Aga Khan from Persia to British ruled India in the 19th century, Khojas retained many Hindu traditions, including a variation on the belief in the Dashavatara.
The Khojas are an ethnic and cultural group originating from Hindu Lohanas. Their ethnonym Khoja is derived from the Persian term khwÃÂja, which roughly translates to 'Lord' or 'Master', a translation of the traditional Lohana title of á¹Âhakkar. However, this term also included certain groups such as Charanas, predominantly from Gujarat and Kutch.
The Hindu Lohanas from Sindh were converted to NizÃÂrë IsmÃÂÿëlism by Për á¹¢adr al-Dën in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. á¹¢adr al-Dën was a dÃÂÿë ("missionary") acting on behalf of the NizÃÂrë imÃÂm who lived in Persia. á¹¢adr al-Dën belonged to a hereditary lineage of përs who served as leaders for the Khoja community as a deputy of the imÃÂm in Persia.
The përs composed religious hymns called ginÃÂns that served as the religious scriptures for the Khojas rather than the QurþÃÂn. The majority of the ginÃÂns glorify the NizÃÂrë imÃÂm as an absolute and infallible leader. Some ginÃÂns contain large amounts of Hindu-Muslim syncretism, with Hindu deities being identified with Muslim figures. The ginÃÂns took inspiration from diverse traditions, including NizÃÂrë IsmÃÂÿëlism, Hindu Sant and Bhakti traditions, and á¹¢à «fism. Such syncretism with Hinduism has been viewed as a strategy by the IsmÃÂÿëlë missionaries to convert Hindus, as well as taqiyya to hide them from other Muslims. The religion of the Khojas was known as Satpanth.
At the end of the fifteenth century, the imÃÂm in Persia, al-Mustaná¹£ir bi-llÃÂh II, abolished the përs as a source of religious authority, and replaced them with a book called PandiyÃÂt-i jawÃÂnmardë, which was then translated into GujarÃÂtë. ImÃÂm ShÃÂh (d. 1513) was supposed to become the next për, but in response to the imam's decision, Imam ShÃÂh's son Nà «r Muḥammad claimed he was the imÃÂm and founded a splinter sect called the ImÃÂm-ShÃÂhës, also known as the Sat-Panthës.
In the nineteenth century, the Khojas gathered in jamÃÂÿatkhÃÂna buildings, did not read the QurþÃÂn, and generally did not follow Islamic law.
The Khojas, mainly merchants from Kutch and Kathiawar, began moving to Bombay in the late 1700s. There they were engaged in petty trade and shop-keeping, with larger magnates gaining fortunes from trade routes with China, Muscat, and Zanzibar.
In 1845, Ḥasan ÿAlë ShÃÂh aka ÃÂghàKhÃÂn I moved to India due to conflict with the Qajar dynasty in Persia. He settled in Bombay, which had the largest concentration of Khojas in India. For centuries the Khojas had been a self governing community with nominal allegiance to a distant NizÃÂrë imÃÂm in Persia, but the newly arrived ÃÂghàKhÃÂn sought to interfere in their internal affairs. This led to conflict in the Khoja community, culminating in the ÃÂghàKhÃÂn case of 1866. The Khoja plaintiffs argued that community in fact were Sunnë Muslims and thus were not under the authority of the ÃÂghàKhÃÂn imÃÂm. The British judge decided in favour of the defendant, ÃÂghàKhÃÂn I, ruling that the Khojas were the descendants of Hindus who became Shëÿa IsmÃÂÿëlës and thus were under the religious authority of the imÃÂm, ÃÂghàKhÃÂn I. In response to the verdict, some Khojas converted to Sunnë Islam.
The imÃÂm succeeding the next imÃÂm, Sulá¹ÂÃÂn Muḥammad ShÃÂh ÃÂghàKhÃÂn III (r. 1885âÂÂ1957) continued to attempt exert his authority over the Khojas and push them towards normative IsmÃÂÿëlëâÂÂShëÿa Islam; this led to the Haji Bibi case. The plaintiffs in the Haji Bibi case of 1908 claimed that the Khojas were followers of Twelver Shëÿa Islam, however the British judge upheld that the Khojas were IsmÃÂÿëlë and so those Khojas split off to follow Twelver Shi'ism.
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Khojas were under pressure from the ÃÂghàKhÃÂns as well as Muslim and Hindu fundamentalist movements to alter their religion. The religious fundamentalists considered the Khojas to be heretics who should convert to Sunnë or Twelver Shëÿë Islam or normative Hinduism. The ÃÂghàKhÃÂns who wielded religious power over the community as imÃÂm sought to Islamise the community to normative IsmÃÂÿëlism. The ginÃÂns were codified under their authority, those with Hindu influences were purged, and new ginÃÂns were composed with QurþÃÂnic verses. The use of the GujarÃÂtë language was also replaced by English. By the time of the imÃÂm ShÃÂh Karëm al-Ḥusaynë ÃÂghàKhÃÂn IV (r. 1957-2025), the Khojas had been integrated into a transnational IsmÃÂÿëlë community with a focus on the QurþÃÂn and literacy of Islamic concepts.
The Khojas live today in India and Pakistan, with a significant diaspora in East Africa, Europe, and North America. They show a strong commitment to the values of Indo-Muslim philanthropy in their business entrepreneurship and contribution to societies in which they live. From the 18th century, some of the Khojas have migrated to the Persian Gulf region, mainly in the Sultanate of Oman and U.A.E, where they are known as Al-Lawatia.
Originally Nizari Isma'ili, after the 1866 Aga Khan Case that consolidated the bulk of the Bombay Khoja community under the leadership of the Aga Khan. The Khojas credit their title to Pir Sadr al-Din who allegedly laid the foundations for the Nizari Ismaili community in India, even before the Anjudan phase of the history of Nizari Ismailism.
Khojas who follow Twelver Shia Islam and have large communities in Pakistan, India, East Africa, North America and the United Kingdom. Moulvi Ali Baksh who had settled in Mumbai in the mid-late 1800s was a prominent Moulvi with great respect in Ithna'ashari Khoja community. It is said that then the Shias were organised into a distinct community by Moulvi Ali Baksh himself. (Excerpts as translated from the book Greatness Bygone authored by Ziauddin Ahmed Barni Published by Taleemi Markaz Karachi on 30 July 1961, Page: 342 written on one of 93 great personalities Ali Mohammed Moulvi. The author had not met only 2 of the 93 personalities noted in his book).
Twelver Khojas are said to have broken away from the Isma'ili Khojas due to their determination to defend their remembrance practices against Aga Khan's efforts to ban them, in order to elevate his personal status as the reincarnation of Isma'il ibn Ja'far, the seventh ImÃÂm of the Isma'ilis.
Traditionally, Khoja men wore a pÃÂghaá¸Âë (loose white turban), chol (double breasted jacket), suthaḷë (trousers) or dhotiyuá¹ (dhoti), and pointed shoes. By the second half of the 20th century, Khoja men had forsaken their traditional garb in favour of á¹Âopë (velvet cap), kabjo (European shirt/long jacket), paheraá¹ (collarless inner shirt), and survÃÂl (European buttoned trousers or waist-string trousers). Khoja women wear a tight blouse or short armed jacket, a ghÃÂghro skirt as a lower garment, and an oá¸Âhaá¹Âë (veil) on the head.