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The origins, evolution and decline of the Khojki script

The Khojki script is an Indian script whose origins are in Sindh (now southern Pakistan), a region that has witnessed the conflict between Islam and Hinduism for more than 1,200 years. After the gradual occupation of the region by Muslims from the 8th century onwards, the region underwent significant cultural changes.

This dissertation reviews the history of the script and the different uses that it took on among the Khoja people since Muslim missionaries began their activities in Sindh communities in the 14th century. It questions the origins of the Khojas and exposes the impact that their transition from a Hindu merchant caste to a broader Muslim community had on the development of the script. During this process of transformation, a rich and complex creed, known as Satpanth, resulted from the blend of these cultures. The study also considers the roots of the Khojki writing system, especially the modernization that the script went through in order to suit more sophisticated means of expression. As a result, through recording the religious Satpanth literature, Khojki evolved and left behind its mercantile features, insufficient for this purpose.

Through comparative analysis of printed Khojki texts, this dissertation examines the use of the script in Bombay at the beginning of the 20th century in the shape of Khoja Ismaili literature. It concludes that due to the Islamization of the Khojas in colonial India, the script began its decline in the following decades when the production of texts in Khojki stopped. Finally, in the middle of fundamental political changes on the Indian subcontinent, Khojki struggled to survive as a living script until it gave way to its definitive replacement by Gujarati and Arabic in the regions of Gujarat and Sindh, respectively.

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