Luwati people are an ethnic group in Oman, believed to have migrated from the Sindh province of Pakistan around four centuries ago. They settled in Oman in waves of immigration between 1780 and 1880, bringing their language with them.
Luwati
Population in the Project Area: 8940
The People
Muscat
Luwati is a minority language found in Oman, specifically in the capital of Muscat and in the coastal towns of Saham, Barka, Khabura, and Musana. According to available historical records, the Lawatiya appeared to have settled in Oman in waves of immigration from Sindh between 1780 and 1880, bringing the language with them. Luwati is relatively a smaller community with less than ten thousand population. The people of the community are also called Khojas or Hyderbadis. Luwati people are mostly concentrated in the capital area of Muscat. However, a small number of families are also found in the coastal towns of Saham, Barka, Khabura and Musana. Luwatis are traders and merchants by profession. Luwatis travelled the world for trade and ultimately settled in some countries to oversee their businesses. Traditionally, Luwati has been known as the prominent merchant on the coast of Muttrah, which lies 2 kilometres west of Muscat. They work in the incense, jewellery and clothes business as well as in general trade. The Luwati people are also known for their seafaring traditions, and many of them work in the fishing and maritime industries. They also have a rich cultural heritage, with traditional music, dance, and cuisine.
The verbal history indicates that they were Muslim Shia in various branches at one point. Currently, they follow Twelver Shia Islam. The community occupies a gated quarter of Muttrah known as Sur al-Luwatia. 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 Great Prophets Mosque about Muhammad. The community report that another significant historic monument built by the Luwati is Al-Zahra Mosque in the UAE built nearly 300 years ago. The people usually don’t like outside invasion.
The Project
Mother-Tongue literacy.
The Luwati language is part of the Indo-Aryan language family, which includes languages such as Hindi, Bengali, and Punjabi. It is a distinct language with its own unique grammar and vocabulary, although it has been influenced by Arabic and other languages spoken in Oman. This language is also known as Hyderabadi, Khoja, Khojki, and Lawatiya. In terms of genetics and morphology, the language is related to the Kumzari language, an Indo-European branch. As with other languages located in Oman, Luwati is influenced by the Omani dialect of Arabic. Luwati no longer has a writing system and is only a spoken language. The language has 10 vowels and 37 consonant phonemes. Arabic, as the first language of Oman and all of Arabia, is also held tightly by the Luwatis in parallel with their mother tongue, Luwati. Nevertheless, there is a trend within this community now to abandon their native language, and more and more young people are not able to speak it. Today, most Luwatis do not speak Luwati as fluently as their ancestors, since Arabic is their mother tongue, while Luwati and English are considered secondary. Hence, it is considered, by governmental academic bodies, an endangered language because some of the Luwatis do not speak Luwati, and it is not continuously passed down to younger generations. This finding was shocking to our survey team. Our survey mainly focused on the socio-cultural features of the community. It was challenging because the Luwati people didn’t encourage outside invasion. But we managed to interact with them and understand their language preferences. Now, we have wider plans of developing an effective method of skill training with their mother tongue.
Progress
As of March 2023
Our team conducted a sociolinguistic survey in the Luwati-speaking regions of Oman with the aim of assessing language abilities, attitudes towards the mother tongue, socio-cultural features, dialects, and bilingual abilities. Our findings revealed that the Luwati language is currently under threat as younger generations are showing a decreasing interest in it. As a result, we plan to implement effective training methods to promote literacy training and language conservation. By doing so, we aim to help preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Luwati people in Oman.