[11] The rise to socio-economic prominence of the Kanbi community in Gujarat and its change of identity to that of Patidar can be attributed to the land reforms of the British Raj period.

[a] The Raj administrators sought to assure revenue from the highly fertile lands of central Gujarat by instituting reforms that fundamentally changed the relationship between the two communities of the region, the peasant Kanbi and the warrior Kolis.

The British colonisation of the country took place over a period of many years and had to adapt to the various local land tenure arrangements that had arisen as Mughal power waned.

These systems of ownership could be broadly classified as landlord-based (zamindari, vanta or magulzari), village-based (mahalwari, narva) and individually based (ryotwari).

[15] The village-based system entailed that organisations jointly owned a village and shared responsibility in some fixed proportion for the land revenues.

The division of responsibility might be arranged by the amount of land held by each member (the bhaiachara method) or by ancestry (the pattidari system).

[15] Being less inclined to take an active role in agriculture personally and thus maximise revenues from their landholdings, the Koli possessions were often left uncultivated or underused.

In the 1740s, some Kanbis were granted permission by the governor, Safdar Khan, to manufacture Saris, which traditionally was the domain of Khatris.

[17] The Kanbis' economic well-being was enhanced further from the 1860s due to improvements in crop selection, farming methods and transportation.

[4] The Patidars heavily benefited from the British Raj, and were able to use their land drainage systems, better agriculture, and the growth of a money economy to prosper.

[8] In the 19th century due to the declining profitability of agriculture, many Kanbis took advantage of new opportunities afforded by British rule, with many migrating to towns like Ahmedabad and Cambay where they became weavers, traders, and moneylenders.

During the 19th century, the Kanbis generally adopted the Patidar term to describe themselves and thus emphasise the high status associated with their ownership.

[27] Additionally, the development of tobacco as a cash crop and African trade benefited both Patidars and Kanbis and reinforced their unity and prevent them from splitting.

As well as aspiring to Kshatriya status, they adopted ritually pure practices such as vegetarianism, worship of Krishna rather than mother goddesses (who were given animal sacrifices), prohibiting widow remarriage,[8] giving dowries rather than using the then-prevalent bride price system, and discontinuing patronage of low-caste priests.

[26][28] They also retained some of their local customs, such as a preference for singing vernacular bhakti devotional songs rather than the more Brahmanic Sanskrit variants.

[8] However, with many Patidars now being merchants, they later began claiming Vaishya status en masse, to be par with the authentic-Vaishya Banias.

The Barots record that Lava and Kusha were cursed by their mother Sita to become cultivators, and after which the Patidars supposedly migrated from Ayodhya to Gujarat.

Shah and Shroff consider this scenario to be unlikely, and believe it to be an example of Barots creating myths to legitimize caste claims to a particular varna (in this case, Kshatriya).

[29] Pocock notes differences in the behavior of Patidar men of Kheda district when in the fields versus the home.

In the village fields the consumption of meat and liquor and sexual relations with untouchable women is possible, but such behavior is strictly forbidden in the house.

[33] The Patidar system caused the creation of endogamous marriage circles based around groups of equal-status villages known as gols, thus strengthening ties.

Simultaneously, the system allowed someone from a relatively poor circle to marry hypergamously into one of the fewer, wealthier Patidar families, whose socio-economic status would be diluted unless they adopted such practices because there were insufficient eligible brides.

The numbers involved are at present reported to be very few but it is seen as a significant break with tradition to marry outside the caste and/or outside their home state.

[44][page needed][ISBN missing] Patidars starting migrating to the British-controlled East Africa more than century ago.

[49][50][51] The Patidar samaj, also dominate as franchisees of fast food restaurant chains such as Subway and Dunkin' Donuts, and retail franchises such as 7-Eleven.