We Prajapatis
The Vishwakarma community comprises of five sub-groups—carpenters, blacksmiths, bronze smiths, goldsmiths and stonemasons—who believe that they are descendants of Vishvakarma, a Hindu craftsman deity. Prajapati’s are Kumbhar - carpenters and stonemasons by professions; thus, one of the sub-groups of the Vishwakarma’s community. Typical surnames for Prajapati’s are Mistry, Lad, Prajapati, Suthar but in some cases people also adopted surnames like Sharma, Makanji and some others. Our origin in India is from the state of Gujarat between the rivers Vapi and Tali to Diu to Surat.
Since the 1940s many of our forefathers travelled from Gujarat to East Africa, Fiji, Ethiopia, South Africa and many other countries for economic reasons. This gave Prajapati’s an opportunity to educate their children and to better their future. Many highly educated Prajapati’s worked in very prestigious jobs and ran their own businesses and contributed to economy of the country they settled in. All throughout history, Gujarati’s have earned a reputation as being India’s greatest merchants, industrialists and business entrepreneurs and have therefore been at the forefront of migrations all over the world, particularly to regions that were part of the British empire such as Fiji, Hong Kong, East Africa and countries in Southern Africa.
Globally, Gujarati’s are estimated to comprise around 33% of the Indian diaspora worldwide and can be found in 129 of 190 countries listed as sovereign nations by the United Nations. Non-Resident Gujarati’s (NRGs) maintain active links with the homeland in the form of business, remittance, philanthropy, and through their political contribution to state governed domestic affairs.