The Brahma Kshatri are a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

 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 also known as known as Brahma Kshatriya.

Origin

The word Brahma Kshatri literally means the warriors of the Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

s. According to their traditions, they are descended from kshatriya

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

s who took shelter with Maa Hingulaj to escape the wrath of Parshuram. The Brahma Kshatri have five endogamous groups based on territorial divisions. They are the Punjabi Brahma Kshatri, Sorathia Brahma Kshatri, Ahmedabad Brahma Kshatri and Kutch Brahma Kshatri. The Brahma Kshatri have a further six divisions, the Brahma Kshatri proper, the Chudgor, Dakhani, Dasa, Natravala, and Panch. Only the Brahma Kshatri proper and Dakhani interdine and intermarry.

The community is said to have its origin in the city of Thatta

Thatta

Thatta is a historic town of 220,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Thatta's major monuments especially its necropolis at Makli are listed among the World Heritage Sites. The Shah Jahan Mosque is also listed...

, in what is now Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. They are said to have left Thatta

Thatta

Thatta is a historic town of 220,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Thatta's major monuments especially its necropolis at Makli are listed among the World Heritage Sites. The Shah Jahan Mosque is also listed...

 some five hundred years ago, with some groups settling in Kutch, while others settled in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

 and Amreli

Amreli

Amreli is a city and a municipality in Amreli district of the Saurashtra region in the state of Gujarat, India.-History:It is believed that during the year 534 AD Amreli existed was formerly known as Anumanji, Amlik and then Amravati. The city is named in ancient Sanskrit ass Amarvalli. Initially...

. The community is still found mainly in Kutch, particularly in Mandvi

Mandvi

Mandvi is a city and a Municipality in Kachchh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao of the Kachchh. The old city had a surrounding fort, and remains of the fort wall can still be seen to this day...

 taluka, and speak the Kutchi language

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 :...

.

Present Circumstances

The Brahma Kshatri are strictly endogamous, and practice clan exogamy. They originally consisted of nine clans, which over time expanded to over ninety six clans. The original nine clans were the Mehra, Kapoor, Tandon, Soning, Talvai, Chopade, Bohra, Kakkad and Sethia.

There traditional occupation was carpentry, with dyeing being a subsidiary occupation. A considerable number of Brahma Kshatri have migrated to East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 and the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

states. The majority of the community are now petty traders.