Negotiating the Racial Boundaries of Khoja Caste Membership in Late Nineteenth-Century Colonial Zanzibar (1878-1899)

This article explores late nineteenth-century identity formation and caste boundaries among the Khoja of colonial Zanzibar. The central concern regarding children born to a non-Khoja parent was what status, particularly regarding rights of inheritance, the multiracial children born of these relationships had within the caste structure. The case of Nasur Jesa v. Hurbayee suggests that the attitude toward these children was inconsistent; sometimes they were embraced, and at other times they were shunned by the Khoja community. The Khoja caste schism in the late nineteenth century and the arrival of Aga Khan III in 1899 further complicated the practice of exogamy. The Sunni and Ithna. Ashari Khoja further opened their communities through exogamy and continued the practice of plural marriage. At the same time, a command from Aga Khan III to the Agakhani Khoja led to the reinstatement of traditional caste endogamy and a prohibition of interracial marriage. Therefore, both the demographic realities of Zanzibar and the politics of caste affected how the Khoja interacted with multiracial members of their community and whether they included or excluded them within the caste structure.