Kagzi

The Kagzi also pronounced kagdi are a Muslim community found in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in India.

History and origin

The term Kagzi in Urdu means a manufacturer of paper, from the word kagaz or paper. There are, in fact, two distinct Kagzi communities, with their own customs, traditions and origin myths, one found in Gujarat and the other in Maharashtra

The Gujarat Kagzi claim to have come to Ahmedabad have from Bukhara in Central Asia, at the invitation of Sultan Ahmad Shah. The community have always been associated with the manufacture of paper, and many still reside in the Shahpur area of Ahmedabad their original settlement in Gujarat. Numerous Kagzi families also live in kagziwaad and Munshi ka dehla localities in Shahpur, part of the old city. They are typically fair skinned and light eyed. In Maharashtra, the Kagzi claim to be descended from soldiers of the Tughlaq armies that invaded the Deccan. They are now found mainly in the districts of Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Pune, Akola and Nasik. The Maharashtra Kagzi speak the Dakhani dialect of Urdu, although most can understand Marathi.