The story about the Vadodaria family (decedents of Vira Bapa) is a colourful and varied as any epic movie.  Our ancestors, starting from a rural farming culture, sought out opportunities in all parts of the world, while maintaining a strong family and work ethic. 

This website is dedicated to our fathers and mothers who worked hard to make life a little better for their children.  The site provides information about specific family history and stories in general, family trees, names and other resources of value to all of us.

 Thank you to Premji (Lavji-Gokal) and Rohit (Vrajlal-Laxman) for starting the first Vadodaria family tree.

The family story is being continually updated.  Please contribute by providing your own bit of history.

The Vadodaria family (descendents of Vira Bapa) has grown to include more than 300 individuals and many families.  Although there are a few of the families left in India (some in the original village of Mengani), most have settled to other parts of the world (mostly in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.  Our relatives (up to 5th cousins) can be found in countries on almost every continent.

The original house and farm found in Mengani is still being used by family members, as a few did commit to farming.  Some members did move to neighbouring villages, towns and cities such as Gondal, Vora Kotda, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Poona and Mumbai.

The vast majority of family members, that I was able to connect with. do identify, in one way or another, with life in East Africa (specifically Uganda).  Although, only one Vadodaria family is now settled in Uganda [Rishi (Magan)], our family was present there since the start of last century.  In an unfortunate way, the expulsion of Indians in 1972, allowed the family to disperse to various regions of the world and truly realise their potential.  Those who were born into a Ugandan-Indian way of life, soon adapted to other cultures and economies.  Their children and grand children have now taken on a variety of professional roles, including business, medicine, dentistry, engineering, academics, the arts. Our grandfathers realised that business 'runs in our blood', so in keeping this belief, many family members have maintained the entrepreneurial spirit and again established the family with honour, dedication to hard work and a sense of caring (strong 'sanskar' - thank you forefathers for this wonderful gift!).

The East Africa Story

Our migration to Uganda and subsequently around the world, can be traced back to around the turn of the last century (early 1900's).  Kala Bapa (Khoot [Khunt]), relative of our great-great grandmother, was taken to Uganda by chance when he ventured to Mumbai (then Bombay) to seek a living.  He set up roots and, after returning to India, convinced Ghela Bapa (Mandan) to migrate to East Africa.

Ghela Bapa was considered a pioneer in the family.  Realizing that his family can not grow and prosper in Mengani and the surrounding villages, he took a chance and  went to Kenya, Tanzania and settled in Uganda.  Starting his life in the small village of Kasanda, he soon went back to Mengani and was approached by Lavji Bapa (Kachra), his nephew, to come to Uganda with him.  His family, his brothers sacrificed much to send him to Uganda.  Following that, in the years to come, many more Vadodaria family members migrated to East Africa, however some did stay in the agricultural village of Mengani.

In the decades to follow, the family prospered and set up businesses in many parts of East Africa, mostly in Kampala.  From a cotton ginnery in Kasanda, trading houses, to oil and sugar mills, the family grew socially and economically.  Many of the elders migrated back to India, while others went to Europe to get educated.

The journey from Mengani to the east coast of Africa in the early 1900's could not have been easy.  As we take transportation and communication for granted, there were no cell phones or even land lines back then.  Family members could barely afford to travel on train or by car, often 'hitching' a ride on a horse or cattle drawn cart and walking the rest of the distance.  Kala Bapa (Khoot) actually travelled by foot along the highway to make his way to Mumbai, family members not knowing how he was doing, or even if he will return.  It was several years before they even got word that he was ok and had travelled to East Africa after some brothers offered him a chance to migrate.  The deal was that the brothers had a trading house in Mombasa.  They needed some young, trustworthy person to help sell goods in smaller places in the area.  Kala Bapa took the chance, was given passage to Kenya, some clothes and a place to stay, in exchange for working for the brothers.  Following this pattern, Ghela Bapa (Mandan) took chances and others were to follow, each one seeing an easier journey.

The first migrations were dangerous and risky at best.  In Mumbai, our forefathers would secure passage in small boats that were open, crowded with cargo and were powered by the wind.  The boats would follow the coast line along the Arabian peninsula, the Persian Gulf and into the port of Mombasa in Kenya.  In later years, steam ships and even air travel became available and affordable for the family.

On in Mombasa, some family members spent time earning a living and eventually venturing off to other parts of East Africa, including Tanzania (Tanganika/Zanzibar) and Uganda (British Empire territories).  The trek was equally as risky, following human caravans by foot along native jungle trails and occasionally fending off animals such as lions, elephants and cheetahs.

Motorized travel and the rail line into Uganda arrived some decades later.  Although the rail lines in Uganda are all but gone, in the day, they played an important role in allowing family members to move about and to transport our goods to market.

So, the story will continue - how our family members experienced life in places such as Kasanda, Kampala, Jinja, Mombasa, Nairobi, etc.

The risk and hard work of Ghela Bapa has resulted in the redefinition of the family from a rural, farming based life, to a diverse one with members in professional occupations and businesses.  Family members continue to give to society through various philanthropic work and have stayed true to the ethic of divinity and hard work.