Khadayata

The Khadayata caste is a Vania caste which is one of the higher castes in Gujarat. The 'Khadayata ' caste in the Baniya/ Vania community among Hindus originated in the state of Gujarat in India. It has existence across the world. The people of this community are known for business activities.

The history of Khadayata community traces back approximately 700 years. The original families seem to have come from a village named "Khadat" in North Gujarat. However a formal organization of the community members began in the earlier part of this century. At that time a vast majority of the families lived in villages in and around Gujarat. The education level of most of the members was very low with the main occupation of trading of commodities. only a few educated community members were living in cities such as Bombay and Ahmedabad.

A few Khadayata community members living in Bombay started an organization "Khadayata Samaj" in the year 1912. These well-wishers recognized that higher education was the only way to advance the fate of younger members of the community. Hence the very first activity of the Samaj was to establish facilities and scholarship funds for the higher education of the children of Khadayatas.

It is difficult for us to realize the situation that existed at that time. Many of the villages or fairly large communities did not have facilities for even primary education. The students from villages, where most of the Khadayata families were settled, had to live with their relatives in the cities to obtain primary education. Education for the girls was almost nonexistent.

The first convention of Khadayatas, the Khadayata Parishad, was convened at Nadiad in 1914 and was attended by delegates from many parts of Gujarat. The convention passed resolutions to establish scholarship funds to provide financial assistance to the needy students. Khadayata Education society (Kelavani Mandal) was established in the year 1916 to serve the financial needs of the sons and daughters of the community members. The funds were distributed as scholarships and interest-free loans for studies in schools, colleges and foreign education. This organization has been at the center of the growth of education of many Khadayata community members for the last 80 years. During the last 90 years thousands of students have benefited from the funds made available by the Mandal.

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