Al-Lawatia

Mutrah Corniche During the mourning procession of Husayn ibn Ali on the 10th of Muharam

Mutrah Corniche During the mourning procession of Husayn ibn Ali on the 10th of Muharam

Al-Lawatia (English: The Lawatis; Arabic: اللواتية; Sindhi: لا واٽي, sing. Lawati) also occasionally known as Hyderabadis are a prominent merchant tribe originally from the Sindh region and now mainly based in the province of Muscat, Oman. They are known globally as Khojas but in the Gulf are more commonly referred to as Lawatis due to them being speakers of Lawati, a Sindhi based language. There are around 30,000 Luwatis (or 1% of Omanis) in Oman.

Many Lawati families of successful merchants of the past are now involved in large multi-faceted corporations participating in the development of the region.

Origins

The Lawatia (or Lawatiyya) community in Muttrah in Muscat has its origins in the Sindh province of Pakistan. They immigrated to Oman between 1780 and 1850. Luwatis converted to Twelver Shia Islam in the 19th century from Ismaili Shia Islam.

However, Laurence Louër, in his book Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf, mentions a different theory of the religious origins of Al-Lawati. According to this theory, the Lawatis were Ismailis who migrated to Oman from Sindh in the 19th century, before converting to Twelver Shi'ism following a dispute with the leadership of the community.

Demographics and role in the Persian Gulf

The majority of Lawatis reside in Muscat, the capital of Oman, but some live on the coast of Al-Batina. Some Lawati families reside elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Traditionally, Al-Lawatia have been known as prominent merchants on the coasts of Muttrah which lies 2 kilometers west of Muscat. They have worked in the incense (بخور), jewelry and clothes business as well as in general trade. The community occupies a gated quarter of Muttrah known as Sur al-Lawatia. In the predominantly Ibadi arena of Oman, they make up the majority of the local Shia population. The quarter still boasts attractive houses with a unique Islamic architectural view and a large mosque known as Al-Rasul Al-Aadam Mosque or The Greatest Prophets Mosque in reference to Muhammad. The Sur has seen a major exodus in recent decades as Lawatis have moved to more modern neighborhoods as a result of increasing development, the availability of facilities and growing wealth and business of the community. Another great historic monument built by the tribe is Al-Zahra Mosque in the UAE, which was built nearly 300 years ago.

History and notable families

The first historical mention of the Lawatis is said to have been by the Omani historian Ibn Ruzayq, who said that notables of the community greeted the first ruler of the currently ruling Al Said dynasty on his arrival to Muscat in the 1740. At least one Lawati family can be documented through British records as existing in Oman at least since the 1700s; they were the first group come to serve the British crown.

One of the most notable political families from the Al-Lawati tribe is the Al-Abdulateef family. Al Hajj Baqer, one of the pioneer merchants in Muttrah and well-respected public figure, lead the tribe as the Lawati sheikh. He enjoyed a strong relationship with the ruling Al Said house, particularly Sultan Said bin Taimur. It is widely known that he privately aided the Omani government's efforts in expelling the Saudi contingents from Al Buraimi in 1952.

It is also notable that the first woman ambassador from Oman was Khadijah bint Hassan al-Lawati, a Lawati woman appointed to the Netherlands in 1999.

On the business front in the UAE, the tribe is represented by families such as the Sajwanis who have become part and parcel of the Emirati institution and rarely known by their Omani and Lawati origins.

Religion

Verbal history indicates that at one point they were Muslim Shia in various branches. They now follow the Twelver Shia Islam. Consequently, the new adopted doctrine of Twelver/Ja'fari grew within the Lawati tribe and the different branches were not accepted. Hence, some retracted while others detached from the community. However, most present-day Lawatis are known to be Twelver Shia Muslims and form the sect's stronghold within Oman. Through the uncommon occurrence of inter-tribal mingling, there are a small minority of Lawatis who have been brought up in mixed marriages either through mixed Shia/Sunni or Shia/Ibadhi traditions.

Compared to the neighbouring UAE, Oman is known for the lack of marginalisation of the various sects and does not have the same anti-Shia problem systemic to the rest of the Gulf states. Ironically, Oman provides for them a more comfortable environment than even Shia-majority Bahrain due to the latter's monarchy-led discrimination and oppression schemes.

Language

Main article: Luwati language

The native mother language of the Lawatia is the Lawati language which in that tongue is referred to as (Khojki). This idiom is genetically and morphologically related to the Sindhi language, a branch of the Indo-European tree. The entire tribe was once fluent in both the written and the spoken Khojki. However, this is rapidly shifting.

Arabic as the tongue of Oman and Arabia at large is also held tightly by Lawatis in parallel with their mother tongue Khojki. However, their is a growing trend within the community leading to the abandonment of Lawati with increasing numbers in the younger generation not able to write nor even speak it. Indeed most Lawatis today are not as fluent in Kojki as their ancestors as they may consider Arabic their mother tongue with Kojki and English relegated to secondary languages. This trend is common to Khojas and minority languages worldwide but less so in isolated communities of the tribe such as in Madagascar wherein Gujarati is still spoken and written by the community to this day as a result of widespread education schemes.

See also

• Omani Baloch