Sunni Vahoras or Sunni Bohras ( ar, سنی بوہرہ; also Jafari Bohras or Patani Bohras), are a community from 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 ...

. Sharing many cultural similarities with the

Dawoodi Bohras The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, Sout ...

, they are often confused with that community. The community in Pakistan uses the surname "Vohra" and not Bohra and are commonly known as Sunni Vohras. A few families use the slightly different spelling of "Vora" or "Vohra" as their surname. Another common surname is

Patel The Patel is an Indian surname or title, predominantly found in the state of Gujarat representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British East India Company) businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally th ...

. Charotar Vohra is also a different caste they all live in the charotar region Gujarat and Nadiyadi Vohra is a sub cast of charotar Vohra and they live in

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. The city is managed by the Nadiad Municipality. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

. An overwhelming majority of the Gujarati-speaking Vohra community of Pakistan lives in the port city of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

in Sindh province. They are well organized and carry out their activities through their own Karachi-based association named ''Charotar Muslim Anjuman'',

Charotar Kheda District is one of the thirty-three districts of Gujarat state in western India. Its central city, Kheda, is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Formerly known as Kaira district, it was divided in two with the sou ...

being the name of the region in the Indian state of Gujarat where their ancestors are originally from.

History and distribution

In the 15th century, there was a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in the Bohra community of

Patan, Gujarat Patan () is the administrative seat of Patan District in the Indian state of Gujarat and is an administered municipality. It was the capital of Gujarat's Chavda and Chaulukya dynasties in medieval times, and is also known as Anhilpur-Patan ...

as many converted from

Mustaali The Musta‘lī ( ar, مستعلي) are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other l ...

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

Sunni Islam 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 disagre ...

. The leader of this conversion movement to

was Jafar Patani, himself a Bohra convert to

. Thus this new group is known as Jafari Bohras and Patani Bohras. In 1538,

Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi Sunni Vahoras or Sunni Bohras ( ar, سنی بوہرہ; also Jafari Bohras or Patani Bohras), are a community from the state of Gujarat in India. Sharing many cultural similarities with the Dawoodi Bohras, they are often confused with that com ...

, a missionary from Sindh, convinced Patani Bohras to cease social relations with Ismaili Bohras. This resulted in a conversion of around 80%,

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

faith to

. This however was changed by Maulaya Raj, who went on to explain how highly misguided people are and explained Islam to them and invited them, hence leading to the return of most of these people back to their faith.Sunni Vohras
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References

{{Indian Muslim Bohra Social groups of Pakistan Muhajir communities Muslim communities of Gujarat Sunni Islam in India

History and distribution

See also

References