There are many theories and legendary stories about the history of Kadva Patidars (Kurmis, Kanabis).

According to the most believable theory, based on the historical records and credible evidence,

Kadva Patidars roots go all the way to the origin of Hindus. According to the same theory, Hindus came

to India from Pamir region on Ayu River in the central Asia (in Azerbaijan) via the Caucasus Mountain

and Afghanistan (see Figure 1). At that time they were called Aryans (not Hindus) and they worshiped

life sustaining elements like sun, wind, fire, and rain, etc. They believed in one God “BRAHAMAN”.

Their religion was known as Aryan Dharma, Sanatan Dharma, or Vedic Dharma, but not Hindu Dharma.

Figure 1: Kadva Patidar Migration Route Azerbaijan to Saurashtra

When the Aryans came to India, they settled in the plains of a big river that they named as Sindhu

(Means big like an ocean). With passage of time, the Aryans got integrated, socially, culturally, vocationally,

and religiously, with the natives living there. Together, they established a well-organized and developed

settlement that became known as Sindhu Valley Civilization, also known as Indus Valley or Harappa

Civilization.

Sindhu Valley civilization is the mother civilization of Hindus and Kadva Patidars (and most of the 

North Indians). It was established between BC7000 and BC2000 and started shrinking in BC1600. 

It covered 1.2 million square kilometers (400,000 square miles) from Kashmir in north to Godavari River 

in the south and from Delhi in the east to Arabian Sea in west. It was a most advanced civilization with 

farming, commerce, and social amenities. Its inhabitants had established standards, based on decimal 

system, for weight, length, area, and volume measurements. They had engineering and technical skills for 

transportation, farming equipment, metal working, and town planning. They had a language with 26

readable and writable characters. It was written from left to right. They were followers of Shiva.

Later on, that area became known as Punjab area, also known as Saptasindhu Valley 

(Currently some parts are in India and some in Pakistan). While Aryans were in the Sindhu Valley, 

They established trades with Mesopotamia and Iran. Those people cannot pronounce sound of “S” instead 

they say the sound of “H”. They started referring to the people of Sindhu Valley as “Hindu”. This is how 

Aryans became Hindus. With time the Hindu society, settled in the Sindhu Valley, got divided into four 

social classes by profession as described below.

Brahmins: Provided education and religious services.

Kshatriya: Protected (during wars) and ruled the society.

Vaishya: Conducted businesses and commerce.

Shudra: Did manual work and served the other three groups.

Later, the Kshatriya class got divided into three sub-classes, Rajan Kshatiya (Kings and leaders), 

Kshatriya (warriors), and Kurmi Kshatriya. The Kurmi Kshatriya did farming during the peacetime and 

helped the army during the war times. Later they became known only as Kurmis, working on farms 

(Growing food and raising cows for the benefits of the entire society). All Patidars are descendants of 

those Kurmis.

Starting in year BC1000, foreign invaders from west (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc.) started attacking the 

people settled in the Punjab area and robbing, torturing, killing, and destroying houses, farms, 

and temples. This forced the Kurmis and others to leave the Punjab area and migrate to eastern and 

southern parts of India. Some Kurmi groups migrated to and settled in North Gujarat (near Unza area) 

and continued farming occupation. Not to forget the origin of their ancestors, they adopted their last

 names (family names) based on the town name (in Punjab) where they lived before migrating.

While in Punjab, those Kurmis lived in Karad area of the Punjab (Gujranwala) were known as 

Karad Kurmi and those who lived in the Leu area were known as Leu Kurmi (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Hierarchy of Kadva Patidar Ancestors from Aryans to Patel

With time and migration to the south, the “Karad” word got distorted to “Kadva” and the “Kurmi” word 

got distorted to “Kanabi”. Thus, Karad Kurmi became Kadva Kanabi and Leu Kurmi became Leuva Kanabi. 

While settled in North Gujarat, Kadva Kanabis made Unza as the center of the community and established

a Temple of Umiya Mataji, their family goddess.

In 17th Century, the Kanabi community requested to call them Patidars, which means managing 

leased land (mostly from kings). This changed Kadva Kanabi to Kadva Patidar. When Gujarat was 

taken over by Muslim kings, they started torturing the public. To escape from the torture and shortage 

of the farming land, some Kadva Patidar families migrated from North Gujarat to other part of Gujarat 

including Saurashtra. Some of them adopted new last name (based on name of the town they lived 

in North Gujarat), while others kept the original last name.

When the Patidars started owning land, they adopted the title of “Patel”, a short form of “Patidar” word. 

Other populace started referring Patidars as Patel caste. (Kadva Patidars as Kadva Patels). However, 

the word Patidar is still a very popular and frequently used word for Kurmis/Kanabis. Recently, some of 

Kadva and Leuva Patidars have adopted “Patel” as their last name.

To continue to prosper, some Kadva Patidars migrated to other part of the world including Africa, 

UK, USA, Malaysia, Canada, and Australia. Most of the KPSNA families are from Saurashtra.

Early Patidar ancestors, being farmers, were providers, of all the basic life necessities to the entire 

population. That is the reason; Patidars are also called caretakers of the world.

As described above, our ancestors migrated, from Central Asia to Sindhu Valley, to Ganges Plains, 

to North Gujarat, and to Saurashtra in search of peace and prosperity.