The Sandhi Muslims are a community found in the 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 ...

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 ...

. Sandhi Muslims belong to a

Samma tribe Samma are a very large and important indigenous tribe of Sindh. The Samma are spread across Pakistan and North- West India being most concentrated in Sindh , their origin but are also found throughout the Punjab region as well as parts of Baloc ...

from

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

. They are one of a number of communities of pastoral

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

s found in the

Banni Banni is a village in the Gambia. It is located in Wuli District in the Upper River Division Upper River was one of the five Divisions of the Gambia. Its capital was Basse Santa Su. It was subsequently reorganised as the Basse Local Governme ...

region of Kutch.''People of India: Gujarat Volume XXI, Part Three'', edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen, pp. 1241-1245

History and origin

They are Samma who converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. The Sandhi are said to have emigrated about 300 years before Independence from Sindh to Kutch and Saurashtra. In Saurashtra, they are found mainly in

Junagadh district Junagadh district is a district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Junagadh. Geography The district is located on the Kathiawar peninsula in western Gujarat. It is surrounded by Rajkot District (North) ...

. They speak Kutchi with many Sindhi loanwords.

Present circumstances

The Sandhi are an

endogamous Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

community, and are divided into 104 clans. They do not practice clan

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...

. Their major clans include the Jam, Lakha, Sameja, Gaha, Gajan, Abada, Sandh, Jokhiya, zakhra, Hothi, Hala, Hingora, Halapotra, Shetha, Notiyar, Fulani, Otha, Unad, Sama, Sora, seta

Sumra The Soomra (or Soomro) dynasty (, '' lit.'' the family/dynasty of the Soomras) was a late medieval dynasty of Sindh, and at times adjacent regions, located in what is now Pakistan. Sources The only contemporary literary source remains the ' ...

Jadeja The Jadeja (also spelled Jarejo) (Gujarati: ) is a Rajput clan that inhabits the Indian state of Gujarat. They claim to be descended from the legendary Jamshed of Iran. They also claim descent from Krishna. They originated from pastoral communi ...

, Nareja, Juneja, Paleja, Koreja, Dal, Deda, Chaniya, Rayma, Rathod, Bolim, Bukera,

Solanki Solanki may refer to: * Solanki (name), surname and given name *Solanki (clan), Indian clan associated with the Rajputs *Solanki dynasty, alternate name for the Chaulukya dynasty The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty th ...

Theba ''Theba'' is a taxonomic genus of air-breathing land snails, medium-sized pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicidae, the true snails. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Theba Risso, 1826. Accessed through: World Register of Mari ...

Sodha Sodha are a Hindu Rajput clan residing in Pakistan and India. History They are off-shoot of Parmara Rajputs, who once controlled regions of Malwa and later North-West parts of Rajasthan. The area around Suratgarh was called 'Sodhawati' and sout ...

, and

Khokhar Khokhar are a Punjabi community native to Pothohar Plateau of Pakistan, and the adjoining areas of India. Khokhars now predominantly follow Islam, though a minority continue to follow Hinduism. Many Khokhars converted to Islam from Hinduism a ...

. The Sandhi of Kutch are a community of

Maldhari Maldharis are herder, herdsmen community in Gujarat, India. Originally nomads, they came to be known as Maldharis after settling in Junagadh district (mainly Gir Forest). "Maldhari" is an occupational term which refers to people from a variety of c ...

cattle breeders. They take their cattle to the bazaars of

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

. They also raise goats and buffaloes. Like other Kutchi communities, many of them have migrated to other parts of

in search of employment. They are

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s and most follow the

Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...

madhhab. In Saurashtra, the Sandhi are mainly farmers, living on their own settlements. They have a statewide association, the Akhil Saurashtra Sindhi Muslim Vikas Jamat, which deals with community issues.

References

Sindhi Muslim in India
{{Indian Muslim Social groups of Gujarat Tribes of Kutch Maldhari communities Muslim communities of India Sindhi tribes * Sindhi tribes in India Muslim communities of Gujarat Islam in Sindh *

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...

*https://www.sandhimuslim.com/ *

Samma Dynasty The Samma dynasty ( sd, سمن جو راڄ, ) was a Medieval India, medieval Sindhis, Sindhi dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, that ruled Sindh, as well as parts of Kutch, Punjab region, Punjab and Balochistan (region), Balochistan from 135 ...

History of Kutch The history of Kutch, a region in the extreme west of the western Indian state of Gujarat, can be traced back to prehistorical times. There are several sites related to Indus valley civilization in region and is mentioned in Hindu mythology. In h ...