Heritage

Calling all Khojas… have you booked your flight yet?

Discover our legacy in India If you have ever wondered about our heritage and wanted to learn more, now is your chance to take a leap back in time and understand what steps our ancestors took in order to become Shia Ithna-Asheris. Join us on our Heritage tour in India from 4th to 14th January 2020. Bring […]

Heritage

The Lavatia of Oman: Arabs or Khojas – An Intriguing Paradigm of Binary Identity.

As we came to land at Muscat airport, our guide, a Muscati scholar originally from Iraq and now working in Holland, had joined us for the Khoja Studies Conference in Mumbai, pointed to Matrah, situated a few miles west of Muscat. Set amid volcanic hills, Matrah was the hub of business and is the location […]

Heritage

Living history: Muhammad Jaffer Ahmed Nanji Kara

Born in a church in Newala, Tanzania Muhammadbhai Jaffer has witnessed great upheaval of the aftermath of the World War I. At the time of interview, he is 94 years old recalling the accounts of his life with great enthusiasm and exceptional joy. He recalls that it was only due to the end of World […]

Heritage

Service from the age of 8

Interviewed in 1960, Marhum Pyarali Rustam remembers his childhood in Mombasa in the 1920s and 1930s: “In 1927, at the age of 8, there arose in me an interest and desire to volunteer for services to the community. I was joined in this by my friend Gulamraza Rashid and Br Gulamali Kaka who was […]

Heritage

Heritage Festival – Understanding History – Reframing Narratives

The weekend of 6th and 7th April was a rare celebration of Khoja Heritage. The Festival organized jointly by COEJ and WF-KHP, took place at Al Zahra Centre in Watford. Over the two days, in addition to the usual menu of historical perspectives by Community historians and inspirational presentations by leaders and academics, visitors were […]

Heritage

Where are the Khojas?

This impressive map produced by the Khoja Heritage Project (KHP) shows approximately 150 Khoja Jamaats across the globe. It reveals the incredible extent of the international community that grew from the migration of the first few pioneers who left Gujarat for Africa around 150 years ago. Children, can you find and name five Jamaats around […]