The Kutchi people ( Kutchi and Gujarati: ڪڇّی; કચ્છી) traditionally hail from the Kutch district of the western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and the Sindh region of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

History

Some of the Kutchi people of India converted from

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

to Islam in the 15th century A.D., largely through the efforts of Saiyid Abdullah. The Kutchi Memons were encouraged to spread throughout India, though many remained in Kutch. Kutchis, being a part of the Indian diaspora, have maintained their traditions abroad; in 1928, Kutchi Hindus in Nairobi held a Swaminarayan procession in which 1200 people attended.

Notable Kutchi people

* Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Former Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations *

Abdul Qadir Patel Abdul Qadir Patel ( ur, عبدالقادر پٹیل ; born 8 August 1968) is a Pakistani politician who represents Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the National Assembly of Pakistan. He became a youngest parliamentarian at the age of 25. He s ...

, Pakistani Politician and

Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians The Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) is a Pakistani political party and an electoral extension of the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP). It was created in 2002 by Amin Fahim after Pervez Musharraf's military dictatorship imposed restrictio ...

Member National Assembly of Pakistan from

NA-248 (Karachi West-I) NA-243 (Keamari-II) () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan. The Kiamari Town is represented by Constituency NA-239 of National Assembly of Pakistan. While PS-89 and PS-90 represents in Sindh Assembly. Members of Parliament S ...

. *

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman, investor, engineer, and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as ...

, industrialist * El-Farouk Khaki * Fahmida Mirza, first female

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the National Assembly of Pakistan * Faisal Devji * Gulgee, Pakistani artist * Hussain Shah, Pakistani boxer * Harish Bhimani, Indian voiceover artist * Ian Iqbal Rashid * Janvi Chheda, Actress, director, and model *

John Nuraney John Nuraney (October 31, 1937 – November 21, 2016) was a Canadian politician who was the first Muslim elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He represented the riding of Burnaby-Willingdon from 2001 to 2009 for ...

, Canadian politician * Anandji Virji Shah, Bollywood music director *

Kalyanji Virji Shah Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...

, Bollywood music director * Laxmichand "Babla" Virji Shah, musician and percussionist *

Naheed Nenshi Naheed Kurban Nenshi (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician who was the 36th mayor of Calgary, Alberta. He was elected in the 2010 municipal election with 39% of the vote, and is the first Muslim mayor of a large North American city. ...

, 36th mayor of Calgary * Omar Sachedina, CTV Broadcaster * Salim Merchant *

Shafique Virani Shafique N. Virani is Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto. Having earned a master's degree in Islamic Studies from McGill University and a PhD from Harvard University, he has also se ...

Shekhar Ravjiani Shekhar Ravjiani is an Indian singer, music director, record producer and actor. He is one half of the Bollywood composing/producing duo Vishal–Shekhar, since 1999. Personal life Ravjiani was born in a Kutchi family. He lives in South Mumbai ...

from the music duo

Vishal–Shekhar Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composer, production, singing and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar have a ...

Shyamji Krishna Varma Shyamji Krishna Varma (4 October 1857 – 30 March 1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, an Indian patriot, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and '' The Indian Sociologist'' in London. A graduate ...

, revolutionary, lawyer, and journalist * Sulaiman Merchant * Viju Shah, music director *

Vipul Amrutlal Shah Vipul Amrutlal Shah (commonly known as Vipul Shah) is a film producer and director of Hindi films. He began his career with Gujarati theater. He was part/director of a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by Gujarati audie ...

, Bollywood director producer

References

External links

*
Suvichar Ki Dayri
Indo-Aryan peoples People from Gujarat Hindu ethnic groups Muslim communities of India Kutch district Culture of Kutch {{India-ethno-stub

History

Notable Kutchi people

See also

References

External links