 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2023) |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Shaikh |
The Shaikh are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2023) |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Shaikh |
The Shaikh are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
Shaikh is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder." It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar. Some members of Brahmins, Rajputs and Kayastha community also converted to Islam. The Muslim Kayasths, Brahmins and Rajputs use shaikh and khan as their surnames, and consider themselves belonging to the Shaikh community. [1] [ full citation needed ]
A community of early Shaikh colonists are the Qidwai, whose ancestor was claimed to be Qazi Qidwa, a son of the Sultans of Rum, in what is now modern Turkey. The Qazi is said to have been sent to the Awadh region to spread Islam, where he is said to have won over fifty local villages to Islam. These fifty villages were later awarded to him, and the region became known as Qidwara. The converts of these fifty villages were called Qidwai. [2] According to another tradition, Kazi Kidwa is said to have defeated a local ruler in the Awadh region by the name of Raja Jagdeopur. This Raja was said to have belonged to the aboriginal Tribal community. The original settlement of the tribe was Juggaur in Lucknow district, from where they spread to Barabanki District. These early colonists were often required to make converts, and these converts often adopted the clan name of those at whose hand they accepted Islam, and this led to a substantial growth in the Shaikh community.[ citation needed ]
The Qidwais recruited in the household cavalry of Shuja-ud-Daula, which was mainly composed of the Sheikhzadgan. [3] [4] [ page needed ]
Historically, the Siddiqui, Hashmi and Farooqui shaikhs of Awadh and Rohilkhand (Budaun and Bareilly) were substantial landowners, often zamindars, taluqedar and jagirdar. In the urban townships, Shaikh families served as priests, teachers and administrators, with the British colonial authorities given the community a preference in recruitment as soldiers and civil officers. [5] [ full citation needed ]
Sheikh is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "Elder"; in a monarchical context it is also translated as "Lord/Master".
Rajput, also called Thakur, is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted. According to modern scholars, almost all Rajput clans originated from peasant or pastoral communities.
Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.
Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan. Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan. They are further divided into different clans.
Sheikh is an Arabic word meaning the elder of a tribe, a revered old man, or an Islamic scholar.
The Kakori Shaikh are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also found in the province of Sindh in Pakistan, particularly the city of Karachi.
The Mughals are a number of culturally related clans of Indo-Turkic people in modern-day North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is claimed they are descended from the various Central Asian Mongolic and Turkic tribes and Persians that settled in Mughal India. The term Mughal literally means Mongol.
The Muslim Kayastha, also known as Siddiqui, are a community of Muslims, are related to the Kayastha of northern India, mainly modern Uttar Pradesh, who converted to Islam during the rule of the Islamic empires in India.
The Qidwai or Kidwai are a community of Muslims in India and Pakistan and throughout the Middle East often considered the premier subdivision of Muslims and Sheikhs due to their Palestinean/Israeli lineage. Their lineage traces back to Jewish roots and Bani Israel heritage. They are mostly settled in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also settled in the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and also in areas of the Middle East specifically, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Qatar. The Qidwai, together with the Milki, Malik and Chaudhary form a community of substantial landowners.
The Khanzada or Khan Zadeh are a cluster community of Muslim Rajputs found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. A notable community is the Khanzadas of Mewat, the descendants of Raja Nahar Khan, who are a sub-clan of Jadaun. They refer to themselves as Muslim Rajputs. After the Partition of India in 1947, many members of this community migrated to Pakistan.
The Rajgonds are the ruling class of the Gonds. The region of Gondwana consisted of neighbouring kingdoms. To the south was the Kingdom of Chanda and to the north was the powerful Garha-Mandla kingdom. In the 16th century, the Kingdom of Deogarh rose as a powerful state with the Kherla Kingdom in its western past.
The Thakurai are a Muslim Rajput community found in the state of Bihar in India. They are mostly concentrated around East and West Champaran District and the surrounding region. A small number are also found in the Terai region of Nepal.
The Bhatti Khanzada of Awadh are a Muslim Rajput community found mainly in the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh in India. There is also a distinct community of Bhattis found in the village of Yahiapur in Pratapgarh district. The Awadh region covers most of the eastern areas of Uttar Pradesh, and is home to a distinct culture. A small number of Bhatti Muslims are also found in the districts of Bahraich and Balrampur. They are sub-group within the larger Khanzada community of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The Nagar Muslims are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are Muslim converts from the larger Nagar Brahmin community. The Nagar are also known as Nagar Shaikh.
Shaikh, also rendered as Sheikh, Sheik, Shaik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Shekh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh, Şeyh and other variants, is a title given to many South Asian Muslim castes. It originally was a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that commonly designated a chief of a tribe, royal family member, Muslim religious scholar, or "Elder". However in Northern India, Shaikh was used as an ethnic title, by those claiming Arab descent, particularly from prominent Muslim figures such as the Rashidun Caliphs, majority of these claims of descent from the Rashidun Caliphs are false. Only a few Shaikhs in North India are genuinely of Arab descent.
Islam in Uttar Pradesh is the second largest religion in the state with 38,483,967 adherents in 2011, forming 19.26% of the total population. Muslims of Uttar Pradesh have also been referred to as Hindustani Musalman. They do not form a unified ethnic community, but are differentiated by sectarian and Baradari divisions, as well as by language and geography. Nevertheless, the community shares some unifying cultural factors. Uttar Pradesh has more Muslims than any Muslim-majority country in the world except Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran and Turkey.
The Nashya Shaikh or Nashya Sekh is a Muslim community found in northern parts of the state of West Bengal in India. They are culturally and linguistically similar to both people of northern Bangladesh and Goalpara of Assam. A small number of the community are also found in the neighboring state of Bihar, where they are known as the Bengali Shaikh. The group is descended from a set of tribals which were collectively referred to as Koches, who converted to Islam as they were unable to find a favourable position in Hindu society and came to be known as the Rajbanshi Muslims. They are homogeneous with the Koch people and are bilingual, speaking both Bengali and Surjapuri.
Purbiya was a common term used in medieval India for Brahmin and Rajput mercenaries and soldiers from the eastern Gangetic Plain - areas corresponding to present-day western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Purbiyas played a significant role in the militaries of various principalities in Western India including the Marwar army as well at the Gujarat Sultanate and Malwa Sultanate.
Kanhpuriyaor Kanhvanshi are a dynasty of Kshatriyas, it is a branch of Chandravansh, Maharaja Kanhdev was the originator of Kanhpuria dynasty, by the name of Maharaja Kanhdev and due to residence in Kanhpur, this dynasty is known as Kanhpuria or Kanhvanshi,
Modern historians agree that Rajputs consisted of a mix of various different social groups and different varnas. Rajputisation explains the process by which such diverse communities coalesced into the Rajput community.