The Gadhvi, sometimes also pronounced Garvi are a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

 found in the state of Gujarat in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Origin

The community is said to have migrated from Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 to Junagadh

Junagadh

Junagadh is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city is the 7th largest in Gujarat. The city is located at the foot of the Girnar hills, 355 km south west of state capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. The city is in western India. Literally translated,...

 some two hundred years ago. They were the traditional genealogists of a number of Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 communities in Saurashtra

Saurashtra

Saurashtra is a region of western India, located on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is a peninsula also called Kathiawar after the Kathi Darbar who ruled part of the region once. The Peninsula is shared with the Kachchh region which occupies the north, Saurashtra or Sorath forming the...

 and Kutch. The Gadhvi are now found mainly in Junagadh

Junagadh

Junagadh is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city is the 7th largest in Gujarat. The city is located at the foot of the Girnar hills, 355 km south west of state capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. The city is in western India. Literally translated,...

 and Bhavnagar

Bhavnagar district

Bhavnagar is a peninsular district of South-Eastern Gujarat. Bhavnagar city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It had a population of 2,469,630 of which 37.86% were urban as of 2001. It covers an area of over 9940 km²...

.

Present Circumstances

The Gadhvi maintain community endogamy and clan exogamy. They have five exogamous clans, being the Parmar, Jadhav, Gohil, Leuva and Kabaria. All these clans are of equal status.

The Gadhvi were traditionally genealogists, but many are now small and medium sized farmers. Many are now also engaged in animal husbandry. A great number are now being urbanized, and taking up a number of urban professions.