The Turk Jamat are a Muslim community found in the state of Gujarat in India. Many members of Turk Jamat Muslim community migrated to Pakistan after the independence in 1947 and settled in Karachi.
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History and origin
The Turk Jamat claim descent from Turk soldiers who served in the army of the Nawabs of Junagadh. They claim to be earliest Muslim settlers to the Sorath region of Kathiawar, and claim to have come from Central Asia as soldiers in the army of Alauddin Khilji. The community are still found mainly in the taluka of Verawal in Junagadh District. They are also found in the talukas of Keshod, Una, and Mandvi of Junagadh District. The community are Gujarati speaking, using the Kathiawari dialect.
Present circumstances
The Turk Jamat have fourteen clans, the main ones being the Saraiki Turk they are khan(Living in District Rahim Yar Khan, Southern Punjab Pakistan),Darvesh,Simari, Mughal, Mori, Gori, Mirza, Shekhji,Gobi, Chauhan, Rathore, Shelat, Agwan, Hala, Tajwani, Tavani, Kajal, Khokhar and Regowa. Among these the Mughal, Mirza and Shelat are three numerically dominant sections. All these clans have equal status and intermarry. They are endogamous, and marriage is preferred with close kin, and they practice both cross cousin and parallel cousin marriage.
The community had traditionally served as soldiers in the armies of the various princely states in the Kathiawar Agency. They were and still are a community of small to medium sized farmers. A good many are also traders. Like other Gujarati Muslims, they have a caste association known as the Jamat, which acts both as a welfare organization and an instrument of social control.