Vora Patel

Vohra Patel or Vora Patel (Gujarati વોહ્રા પટેલ) is an affluent, Sunni Muslim, patidar (land-owning) community, originating from the Patel family of Hindu Kurmi ancestry, originally from Gujarat, India, particularly from the Bharuch District of Gujarat.

The United Kingdom is home to the largest population of Vohras outside of Bharuch. Vohras from Bharuch ('Bharuchis') initially settled in the mill towns of Lancashire where many still reside in large numbers. Although primarily situated in the mill towns of Blackburn, Bolton, Lancaster, and Preston, there are also large communities in Dewsbury, Leicester, and parts of London. Many of the initial migrant families of the community gained success during the economic prosperity of the textiles industry in North West England and, to this day, retain their wealth through assets. A large number of these affluent families are primarily from Lancashire, many of which are now in their third and fourth generations.[1]

Common dishes of Vohras include kichry curry and dal-gosh (lentils with meat) and boiled rice (chaval).

History and Origin

The surname Patel is one of the most widely used name today. Originally the Kurmi Kshatriyas of Punjab, after having settled in Gujarat around 1400 A.D. were allocated the uncultivated land in Petlad Taluka by the Solankis, the rulers of Gujarat at the time. The Solanki ruler allocated land equivalent to one village to each Kurmi family for cultivation. In return, the family would pay the ruler a fixed income for a certain period of time, after which, the family would acquire the ownership of the land. The Kurmi caste succeeding in cultivating the land and prospered, later becoming the land-owners. Prior to the introduction of the name Patel in Gujarat, they were known as patidar. Patidar means "owner of land". ‘PATI’ means land and ‘DAR’ means the person who owns it.[2]

Migration and Diaspora

Many Vora Patels migrated to African countries, Mumbai, North America, Pakistan, Canada and United Kingdom.[3]

Notable Vohra Patels

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.