Punjabi Shaikh

Name

Sheikh (Arabic and Punjabi: شيخ ), is an Arabic word meaning elder of a tribe, lord, honorable revered old man, or Islamic scholar. In South Asia it is used as an ethnic title generally attributed to Muslim trading families.

From the beginning of Muslim rule in South Asia in 713 AD, the Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and sufis travelled from the rest of the Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate and Mughal Empire in South Asia and settled permanently.

In South Asia, after the advent of Islam, some higher castes (now known as Forward castes in India) such as Brahmins and Khatris, converted to Islam in the Punjab region and adopted this title. They are known as Punjabi Shaikh (Punjabi) پنجابی شيخ. Punjabi Shaikhs are mostly urban and non agriculturist but a few families also cultivate their own land in the western districts. Their main professions are business and public service. In Punjab, they stereotypically have a reputation for business acumen. Many Rajput clans had converted to Islam, also known as Muslim Rajputs, during the early 12th century and were also given the honorary title of Sheikh (elder of the tribe) by the Arab rulers or Pirs. Sheikh Rajputs were the earliest in Rajputs to embrace Islam. Another example Khawaja Shaikh, with their sub-division the Chiniotis and the Qanungoh Shaikh are two such communities.

Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Khatris were living in all the districts of Punjab. Most of them were concentrated in the western districts. People from all classes; Khatris, Rajputs, Jats, Gujjars, Gakhars, etc.; had converted to Islam. The Siddiqui Shaikhs and Quraishi Shaikhs, Abbasis are communities that are the descended from these converted classes. They are found in Punjab as Punjabi speaking Shaikhs and also found in Sindh as Sindhi speaking Shaikhs. The Siddiqui Shaikhs are also living in northern India and also in Rajasthan, East Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana as well as in Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Telangana.

The Saraswat Brahmin, including Mohyals, adopted Sheikh as their title upon high caste conversions to Islam. The Kayastha also adopted Islam as Muslim Kayasths they became part of Shaikh community.

Shaikh

Members of the Shaikh community are those who after converting to Islam from different Hindu high castes formed Muslim Khatris, Sunni Khoja, Khawaja (Arabic: خواجہ شيخ‎‎) and community belong many prominent Muslim trading families of South Asia such as Arora, Chawla, Sehgal, Paracha adopted the title of Shaikh.

Qanungoh Shaikh

Qanungoh Shaikhs (Persian: قانونگوہ شيخ‎‎) belonged to all the districts of the Punjab. They have different lineages and represent families who were holding hereditary office of Qanungoh (Law readers) during the Muslim period.

This designation was used in the Punjab and other provinces of India and Pakistan for hereditary registrar of landed property in a subdivision of a district.

Siddiqui and Quraishi Shaikhs

The Siddiqui and Quraishi are also clans of Shaikh found in the Punjab. The Siddiqui and Quraishi mostly are Muslim Kayasths who converted to Islam from the Hindu Kayastha caste. These clans are also found in northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Haryana. They are usually Urdu speaking community while some can be found to be Punjabi speaking.

Kashmiri Shaikh

The Kashmiri Shaikh are another community living in different districts of the Kashmir and Punjab. They emigrated from Kashmir during the 19th and 20th centuries. Allama Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal belonged to this group. Muhammad Iqbal grandfather Shaikh Rafiq migrated to Sialkot in the early 19th century.