The Shaikh are a Muslim community found in the state of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
in India. There are four main sections in shaikhs namely siddiqi,farooqi,usmani,abbasi.They were so named because of their scholarly contributions and lineage. Word " Shaikh or Sheikh " is an Arabic title of respect dating from pre-Islamic times; it strictly means a venerable member of society or scholar akin to modern day usage of sir or Persian saheb.
They are part of the larger
Shaikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
community of
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. Quite a few Shaikh have immigrated to Pakistan from India, where they form an important element in the
Urdu speaking
Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccani people of the Deccan plateau in south-central India (who speak Deccani Urdu) and the M ...
community. Saikhs aren't any family, tribes or caste but they are a title adopted to show economic or social development as per Islam in Arab World but they have formed community in South Asia. Their surname includes Ahmad, Akhtar, Siddique, Hashimi,Abbasi, Hossain etc
History
Shaikh is a word or
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
term in the
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
that literally means "
elder." It is commonly used to designate an elder of a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...
, a revered wise man, or an
Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
. Some members of
Kayastha community converted to Islam and from them, the bulk of Shaikh community originated. The
Muslim Kayasths
The Muslim Kayastha ( ur, ), 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 Muslim Kayastha and Nagar Muslims ...
use
shaikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
zada as their surnames, and consider themselves belonging to the
Shaikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
community.
[Endogamy and Status Mobility among Siddiqui Shaikh in Social Stratication edited by Dipankar Gupta]
Throughout the history of the
Delhi Sultanate and its successor the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
in South Asia, Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats and traders flocked from the rest of the Muslim world, and the region that now forms Uttar Pradesh was the centre of Islamic power in India. A disproportionately larger number of Indian Muslim converts also acted as rulers, bureaucrats and traders. Over time, the name Shaikh was given to these Muslim families, the vast majority of whom had local origins and many of whom were settled in fortified Muslim settlements, known as
Qasbas. They played a key role in the early Islamic history of Uttar Pradesh, serving as courtiers and administrators for the
Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal rulers. The archaeogenetics of Shaikhs have shown that they have negligible ancestry from Islamic Central Asia or Middle East. One such community of early Shaikh colonists are the Qidwai, whose ancestor was Qazi Qidwa, a son of the Sultans of
Rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
, in what is now modern Turkey. The Qazi is said to have been sent to the
Awadh
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
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.
[Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims edited by Imtiaz Ahmed page 212 Manohar 1978] 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
Barabanki district is one of the five districts of Faizabad division (officially ''Ayodhya division''), in the central Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Barabanki city is the administrative headquarters of Barabanki district. Total area of Ba ...
. 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.
Present circumstances
Historically, the Shaikh of Awadh were substantial landowners, often absentees, and while those of
Rohilkhand and the
Doab
''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
were small scale farmers. In the urban townships, Shaikh families served as priests, teachers and administrators, with the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
colonial authorities given the community a preference in recruitment. Independence in 1947 was traumatic for the community, with many families becoming divided, with some members moved to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. This was followed by the abolishment of the
zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
i system, where land was redistributed to those who till the land.
The Shaikh of Uttar Pradesh are
Sunni. They are fairly widely distributed found in almost all the districts of the state. In the urban areas, Shaikh often live in their own quarters, while they tend to live in their own villages, rarely in multi-
clan villages. In western
Rohilkhand, particularly in
Bijnor and
Amroha district
Amroha district is one of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Amroha town is the district headquarters. According to the Government of India, the district is one of the Minority Concentrated Districts on the basis of the ...
where they make a quarter of the population.
Arain
Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi agricultural tribe with strong political identity and organisation, found mainly in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh ...
community is also descendant of Arab and share significant count in Shaikh community.
As
Siddiqui
Siddiqui ()( Romanized: Ṣiddīqī ) are a South Asian Muslim Sheikh community found mainly in India and Pakistan and in expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region. They claim to be the descendants of Abu Bakr, the first ...
,
Osmani,
Abbasi,
Hashmi Al-Hashimi, also transliterated Al-Hashemi ( ar, الهاشمي), Hashemi, Hashimi or Hashmi ( fa, هاشمی) is an Arabic, Arabian, and Persian surname.[Sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...]
communities descend from different individuals belonging from the same tribe
Quraish
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...
so basically all are
Quraishi
Qureshi (also known as Qureyshi, Quraishi, Qurayshi, Qureshy, Quraishy, Qoraishi, Qoreshi, Koraishi, Kureshi, Kureshy, Kureishi, Coreish) is a Muslim family name. In English it has many spellings, in Arabic is spelled "", which means part of the ...
. Shaikh's who belong to
Haideri,
Siddiqui
Siddiqui ()( Romanized: Ṣiddīqī ) are a South Asian Muslim Sheikh community found mainly in India and Pakistan and in expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region. They claim to be the descendants of Abu Bakr, the first ...
,
Osmani,
Abbasi,
Hashmi Al-Hashimi, also transliterated Al-Hashemi ( ar, الهاشمي), Hashemi, Hashimi or Hashmi ( fa, هاشمی) is an Arabic, Arabian, and Persian surname.[Sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...]
but use their surname as Shaikh are also Quraishi as they belong to
Quraish
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...
tribe. This
Quraishi
Qureshi (also known as Qureyshi, Quraishi, Qurayshi, Qureshy, Quraishy, Qoraishi, Qoreshi, Koraishi, Kureshi, Kureshy, Kureishi, Coreish) is a Muslim family name. In English it has many spellings, in Arabic is spelled "", which means part of the ...
community use their direct ancestor's name in order to give their exact identity.
Ansari community is also descendant of Arab and share significant count in Shaikh community. Throughout history one can find countless examples of these communities intermarrying with each other. There is still a marked preference of marrying with close kin, and they practice both parallel cousin and cross cousin marriages. In their old settlements, often extended families live in close proximity. But as many have begun to migrate to the large urban centres like
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
or
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, there sense of corporate identity is breaking down, with marriages into the wider Muslim community, with a similar process occurring in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
.
Their primary occupation of the rural Shaikh is still cultivation. The Shaikh cultivate wheat, paddy, maize, sorghum, sugar cane, pulses and vegetables. A few also have mango, guava, and banana orchards. Those of western Uttar Pradesh have benefited from the changes brought about the
Green Revolution
The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...
, while those in the east have seen a decline in their living standards, especially the large
taluqdar
Taluqdars or Talukdar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: ; Perso-Arabic: , ; from ''taluq'' "estate/attachment" + '' dar'' "owner"), were aristocrats who formed the ruling class during the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, Mughal Empire and British Raj ...
families.
Manihar
Nagar Muslims
Muslim Kayasths
The Muslim Kayastha ( ur, ), 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 Muslim Kayastha and Nagar Muslims ...
Milki
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaikh Of Uttar Pradesh
Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh
Muhajir communities
Shaikh clans