{| class="wikitable" align="right" style="margin-top:0; width:300px;" |+ khojas ! subdivisions: | nizari ismaili, ithna ashari shia, sunni, punjabi |- ! significant populations in: | south asia, east africa, europe and north america |- ! language | the indo-aryan languages of sindhi, gujarati, memoni and kutchi |- ! religion | primarily nizari ismaili, with significant twelver shi'a and sunni minorities |}  the khojas () are a group of diverse people who converted to islam in south asia. the word khoja derives from khwaja, a persian/turkic honorific title (). in india, most khojas live in the states of gujarat, maharashtra, rajasthan and the city of hyderabad. many khojas have also migrated and settled over the centuries in east africa, europe and north america. the khoja were by then adherents of nizari ismailism. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the aftermath of the aga khan case a significant minority separated and adopted twelver shi'ism or sunni islam, while the majority remained nizari ismaili. ==origin of the name== the term khwaja, pronounced khoja in the gujarati and sindhi languages, is a persian honorific title, first bestowed by the allegedly nizari ismaili sadardin (died c. 15th century) upon his followers during the lifetime of the nizari ismaili imam islam shah (1368-1423 ce). as such, pir shihab al-din shah, brother of one of the nizari ismaili imams, wrote regarding the origins of the khojas that the very formation of the community came about through pir sadardinâs devotion to the imam.virani, shafique n. the ismailis in the middle ages: a history of survival, a search for salvation (new york: oxford university press), 2007, p. 102. speculation exists that many lohanas of gujarat converted to nizari ismailism due to the efforts of pir sadardin. they gradually used the title khoja. before the arrival of the aga khan from persia to india in the 19th century, khojas retained many hindu traditions, including a variation on the vaishnavite belief in the dashavatara: they believed ali was kalki, the last avatar of vishnu.{aná¹¡ÄrÄ« Ê»alÄ« sher Ê»alÄ« - 1901 - page 65-66} ==khojas== derived from the persian khwaja, a term of honour, the word khoja referred to those converted to nizari ismaili islam 
Ethnic_groups_in_Pakistan Khoja_Ismailism Muhajir_communities Muslim_communities_of_Gujarat Muslim_communities_of_India Social_groups_of_India Social_groups_of_Pakistan