gurjar kshtriya / Kadiya kshtriya are a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
sub-group of the
kshtriya caste, which are found only in
Gujarat, India.
They are among the
Socially and Educationally Backward Class
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
es of Gujarat State.
The Kadia caste originated in the 1920s, when a group decided to break links with the gurjar kadiya, their parent caste and form a new distinct sub-group.
Kadia are those who have taken to the occupation of Kadias, or
mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
s.
Remarriage of divorcees and widows is accepted in the Kadia society.
Marriage between individuals of close relation is prohibited. They are mostly vegetarian in diet but some members, especially in South Gujarat, do eat non-vegetarian food.
Before India gained independence, the gujjar Kadia sub-group was largely concentrated in the territory of the former
Baroda State
Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...
,
and in the
Diu territory of
Portuguese India
The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
.
The first census of the community was taken in the year 1931.
Presently, they are found spread in towns and districts like
Vadodara,
Amreli,
Navsari,
Kadi
Kadi may refer to:
Radio
* KADI-FM, a radio station (99.5 FM) licensed to serve Republic, Missouri, United States
* KICK (AM), a radio station (1340 AM) licensed to serve Springfield, Missouri, which held the call sign KADI from 2005 to 2015
* WFU ...
,
Okha,
Kodinar,
Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...
, and
Mahuva, which towns were parts of these Princely States and Diu.
[ The community living in Talaja, Bhavnagar call them Gurjar Kshatriya Kadia kshtriya.]
References
{{Reflist
Social groups of Gujarat
Indian castes
Kumhar clans
Hindu communities