The word Shaikh in Arabic means a tribal elder or headman. The term Shaikh can cover a community of no definite origin, since the name has been used by any individuals of wide background. On occasion, they may be of influential people or poor farmers converted by Sufi saints who used to adopt Shaikh title. They played a key role in the early Islamichistory of Gujarat, serving as courtiers and administrators for the Sultans of Gujarat and later Mughal rulers. After the breakup of the Mughal Empire, they became rulers of a number of states in the Kathiawar region, with Mangrol being the most important. The community is found mainly in Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Godhra, Vadodara, Rajkot, Junagadh, Bhavnagar and the Kutch District. They are essentially an urban community, except the Shaikh of Kutch. The Kutchi Shaikh have three groups of equal status, the Shaikh Dada, Shaikh Sayed and Shaikh Fakeer. The first two are found in Kanyabee village and the last group in Shaikh Sumrasar village of the Bhujtaluka.
Shaikh by District History & origin
The Hansotis of Bharuch
The Shaikh of Bharuch include the Hansotis, a unique community, who initially arose from the Hansot taluka of Gujarat. The Hansoti dialect, which has often been assigned to a broader language known as "Bombay Urdu" has an archaic proto-Urdu character; it has retained Arabic and Turkic words which other Urdu dialects do not. Modern Hansotis are a product of both indigenous populations, such as s, Rajputs and Arabs, and diverse historic immigration, from countries including Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Khorasan, Saudi Arabia and. Prominent people from Hansot include:
The Shaikh of Gujarat are largely an urban community, with the exception being the Shaikh of Kutch, who are largely farmers. In Kutch, the Shaikh undertake rain fed agriculture, and grow mainly wheat, sorghum and groundnuts. A few rear goat, sheep and cattle. Those in the urban area engage in a number of occupation, and have traditions similar to other Gujarati Muslims community. The majority of the Shaikh are Sunni, the only exception being the Shaikh families of the town of Khambhat, who are Shia. Like other Gujarati Muslims, and in opposition to Islamic precepts, some have a statewide caste association, the Shaikh Samyukh Mowath Jamat. The Shaikh of Gujarat have differing native languages depending on their particular ethnogenesis. Some speak Gujarati with large number of Urdu loanwords, while those of Kutch speak Kutchi.., & yet others speak archaic proto-Urdu e.g. Hansotis.
The Sodagar
The Sodagar or "Arab Shaikh" are a small sub-group within the larger Shaikh community. They originate from the Hadhramaut region of Yemen, and settled in the city of Patan, during the period of Mughal rule, and intermarried with the Sunni Bohra community. The community were involved the buying and selling of silk, and exporting it to the Middle East. They still maintain links with the Middle East, being fluent in Arabic. But the Sodagar mohalla in Patan has declined, with many of their houses becoming crumbling ruins. They have their own caste association, the Jamat Shams Sodagaran, which is involved in the up keep of their jamat khana, in the town of Patan. They are strictly endogamous, and do not marry with other Shaikh groups. There are still cases of intermarriage with Arab communities in the Middle East.
