The Sandhai Muslim are a community 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...

 . They are one of a number of communities of pastoral nomads found in the Banni

Banni Grasslands Reserve

Banni Grasslands Reserve or Banni grasslands form a belt of arid grassland ecosystem on the outer southern edge of the desert of the marshy salt flats of Rann of Kutch in Kutch District, Gujarat State, India. They are known for rich wildlife and biodiversity and are spread across an area of...

 region of Kutch.

History and origin

The Sandhai are said to emigrated about 300 years ago, from Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 to Kutch and Saurashtra. In Saurashtra, they are found mainly in Junagadh District

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 , Porbandar District , Amreli District...

. They speak Kutchi

Kutchi language

Kachhi Kachhi Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh.- Closely related languages :...

, with many Sindhi

Sindhi language

Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...

 loanwords.

Present circumstances

The Sandhai are an endogamous community, and are divided into eighty two clans. They do not practice clan exogamy, except the Hala and Shetha clans. Their major clans include the Sameja

Samejo

The Samejo or Sameja is the Samma and it is settled in Sindh and Balochistan province of Pakistan.- Origin :*According to some traditions, They are descendants of Sam , the eldest of the three surviving sons of the prophet Nuh . descendants of Sam, the son of Umar, son of Hashim, son of Abu Lahab,...

, Samma, Jadeja, Nareja, Dal, Gothi, Solanki, Virsa, Theba

Theba (tribe)

The Theba are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India and a province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are one of a number of communities of pastoral nomads found in the Banni region of Kutch...

, Nayi, Bafars, Hala, Shetha, and Khokhar

Khokhar

The Khokhar or Khokar are a people of Punjab region of Pakistan and north-western India. According to H. A. Rose they are the gotra of Rajput, Jat, Arain, Nai, and Churah. According to Denzil Ibbetson, they are also a gotra of the Tarkhan and Khatri tribes. The Khokhars were designated as an...

. Some of these clans such as the Jadeja

Jadeja

Jadeja belong to the Yaduvanshi rajputs or Chandravanshi rajputs. They are one of the 36 royal dynasties of old tracing their origins to Lord Krishna...

, Nareja and Solanki

Solanki

The Solanki was a royal Hindu Indian dynasty that ruled parts of western and central India between the 10th to 13th centuries. A number of scholars including V. A. Smith assign them Gurjar origin....

 claim Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 ancestry.

The Sandhai of Kutch are a community of Maldhari cattle breeders. They take their cattle to bazaars of Bhuj

Bhuj

Bhuj is a city and a municipality in Kachchh district in the state of Gujarat, India.-History:It was established by Rao Hamirji in 1510 and was made the state capital by Rao Khengarji I in 1549. Its foundation stone as state capital laid formally on Vikram Samvat 1604 Maagha 5th...

. In addition to cattle rearing, they also raise goats and buffaloes. Like other Kutchi communities, many of them have migrated to other parts of 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...

 in search of employment. They are Sunni Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s and most follow the Barelvi

Barelvi

Barelvi is a term used for the movement of Sufi , Sunni Islam originating in the Indian subcontinent.The Movement is known as Ahle Sunnat movement to its followers....

 tradition. In Saurashtra, the Sandhai are mainly farmers, living in their own settlements. They have a state wide association, the Akhil Saurashtra Sindhi Muslim Vikas Jamat, which deals with community issues.