Sunni Bohra


Sunni Bohras are one of the communities from the state of Gujarat in India. A few families use the slightly different spelling of "Vora" or "Vohra" as their surname. Some Sunni Vohra live in Karachi in Pakistan.
An overwhelming majority of the Gujarati-speaking Bohra community of Pakistan lives in the port city of Karachi in Sindh province. They are well organized and carry out their activities through their own Karachi-based association named Charotar Muslim Anjuman, Charotar being the name of the region in the Indian state of Gujarat where their ancestors are originally from.

History and distribution

In the 15th century, there was schism in Bohra community of Patan, Gujarat as many converted from Shia Ismaili Mustaali fiqh to Sunni Hanafi fiqh. The leader of this conversion movement to Sunni was Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi Patani, himself a Bohra convert to Sunni Islam. This new group was known as Jafari Bohras and Patani Bohras. In 1538, Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi, a missionary from Patan, convinced Patani Bohras to cease social relations with Ismaili Bohras. This resulted in a large conversion, almost 80%, from Shia Ismaili Fiqh to Sunni Hanafi Fiqh.