Khojas

For the religious-political dynasty in Xinjiang see Khoja (Turkestan)

The Khojas (Sindhi: کوجا، خوجا، خواجا‎, Turkish: Hodja, Hoca, Albanian: Hoxha) are a group of diverse people who converted to Islam in South Asia. The word Khoja derives from Khwāja (New Persian Khājé), a Persian honorific title (خواجه) of pious individuals from Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East..

In India, most Khojas live in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and the city of Hyderabad. Many Khojas have also migrated and settled over the centuries in East Africa, Europe and North America. The Khoja were by then adherents of Nizārī Ismā'īlīsm. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the aftermath of the Aga Khan Case a significant minority separated and adopted Twelver Shi'ism or Sunni Islam, while the majority remained Nizārī Ismā'īlī.

The term Khwaja, pronounced Khoja in the Gujarati and Sindhi languages, is a Persian honorific title, first bestowed by the allegedly Nizārī Ismā'īlī Sadardin (died c. 15th century) upon his followers during the lifetime of the Nizari Ismaili Imam Islam Shah (1368-1423 CE). As such, Pir Shihab al-din Shah, brother of one of the Nizari Ismaili imams, wrote regarding the origins of the Khojas that the very formation of the community came about through Pir Sadardin’s devotion to the Imam.

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