Subgroups: 2
Subgroup Name | Population ▼ | |
---|---|---|
Pirzada | 12,000 | |
Siddiqi | 200 |
The term Shaikh is used here for a sociocultural group that originated with Arab settlers in South Asia which now includes many subgroups, some of which intermarry in Bangladesh with non-Shaikh Bengali Muslims and some of which don't.
Islam arrived in the area now known as Pakistan in 711 AD when a Muslim Arab army conquered the northwestern part of the Indus Valley from Jammu and Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. Technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and sufis flocked from the rest of the Arab and Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate in South Asia, and settled permanently.
The descendants of these Arabs usually go by the title of Shaikh and are also known in Pakistan as Muslim Khatri. The Shaikhs of Pakistan, however, claim pre-islamic ancestry. They are a sub-group of the Zamindar group or qoum, traditionally associated with farming, which is one of the two groups making up the Pakistani Punjabis (the other group is the Moeens group or quom, who are traditionally artisans). Shaikh is also a term that is usually attributed to the leaders or elders of Arabian social groups. Other variants of this term are Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh, Seyh.
After the advent of Islam in South Asia, some high caste (Brahmins, Muslim Rajputs and Khatris) converted to Islam in the Punjab region and adopted this title. They are known as Punjabi Shaikh (Punjabi). The majority of the Punjabi Shaikhs are urbanized and detached from their traditional agricultural ancestry. However, a few families also cultivate their own land in the western districts of Punjab. The main professions of the urban Punjabi Shaikhs are business and public service, and are stereotyped for their reputation for business acumen. The Khawaja Shaikh, with their sub-division the Chiniotis and the Qanungoh Shaikh are two such communities.
The Sikh Shaikhs living in villages at the Indian border adjoining Pakistan were remnants of the Shaihks who chose to stay after the independence of of Pakistan in 1947, embracing Sikhism as their religion. They are famous for their lori and dhool, a traditional Indian drum.
The Shaikhs are not bound by one particular profession. The Shaikh can be broadly grouped into five communities. Three of these communities are the Siddiks, Farukis and Abbasi who are often descendents of Arab immigrants. The other two are the Chistis and Kuraishis communities who tend to be mainly from converts to Islam. Consequently, the Shaikhs profess Islam and have both Sunni and Shia traditions among them. In Nepal they speak Nepali and either Urdu, Bhojpuri or Maithili in their communities. They are not vegetarian and their common food is rice, mutton and vegetables. Common surnames are Mondal, Siddiqui, Usmani, Faroqui and Sheikh.
There has been much ministry activity among the Shaikh in India but few works in Nepal. Pray that this largest group of Nepali Muslims will find the truth of the Prophet Isa! There is a lot of potential for gospel growth within the Shaikh community because of relatively few social divisions.
* Scripture Prayers for the Shaikh in Pakistan.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Shaikh
Profile Source: Toni Tagimacruz |
Global Prayer Digest: 2019-05-29 |
People Name General | Shaikh |
People Name in Country | Shaikh |
Pronunciation | SHAYK |
Population this Country | 13,327,000 |
Population all Countries | 235,151,000 |
Total Countries | 9 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | Yes |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 267 |
Alternate Names | Faraji; Jhiwar; Shaik; Sheikh; Shekhzade; शैख़ |
People ID | 18084 |
ROP3 Code | 113585 |
Affinity Bloc | South Asian Peoples |
People Cluster | South Asia Muslim - Shaikh |
People Group | Shaikh |
Ethnic Code | CNN25 |
Affinity Bloc | South Asian Peoples |
People Cluster | South Asia Muslim - Shaikh |
People Group | Shaikh |
Ethnic Code | CNN25 |
Total Subgroups | 2 |
Pirzada 12,000 | |
Siddiqi 200 |
Country | Pakistan | |||||||||
Region | Asia, South | |||||||||
Continent | Asia | |||||||||
10/40 Window | Yes | |||||||||
National Bible Society | Website | |||||||||
Persecution Rank | 5 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | |||||||||
Total States on file | 7 | |||||||||
Largest States |
|
|||||||||
Specialized Website | South Asia Peoples |
Country | Pakistan |
Region | Asia, South |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 5 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Total States | 7 |
Sindh 8,333,000 | |
Punjab 4,352,000 | |
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 261,000 | |
Azad Kashmir 219,000 | |
Balochistan 97,000 | |
Islamabad 59,000 | |
Gilgit-Baltistan 6,400 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Language | Punjabi, Western (3,997,000 speakers) | |||||||||||||||
Language Code | pnb Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||||||||
Total Languages | 30 | |||||||||||||||
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown) |
|
Primary Language | Punjabi, Western (3,997,000 speakers) |
Language Code | pnb Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 30 |
Secondary Languages (only 15 largest shown) | |
Urdu 3,804,000 | |
Sindhi 3,799,000 | |
Saraiki 1,041,000 | |
Marwari 171,000 | |
Pashto, Northern 61,000 | |
Kashmiri 52,000 | |
Hindko, Northern 47,000 | |
Bagri 30,000 | |
Pashto, Central 25,000 | |
Shina 23,000 | |
Pashto, Southern 21,000 | |
Dhatki 19,000 | |
Hindko, Southern 18,000 | |
Marwari 8,200 | |
Koli, Parkari 8,000 | |
People Groups | Speaking Punjabi, Western |
Primary Language: Punjabi, Western
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes (1885-1922) |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (1819-1952) |
Bible-Complete | No |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name |
---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching (GRN) |
Audio Recordings | Father's Love Letter |
Audio Recordings | Online Scripture / Bible |
Audio Recordings | Story of Jesus audio (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | Indigitube.tv Video / Animation |
Film / Video | Jesus Film: view in Punjabi, Western |
Film / Video | The Return |
Film / Video | The Return |
General | Four Spiritual Laws |
General | Gospel website in this language |
General | Got Questions Ministry |
Text / Printed Matter | Cartoon Gospel tract |
Text / Printed Matter | Online Bible text (Scripture Earth) |
Text / Printed Matter | World Missionary Press Booklets |
Primary Religion: | Islam |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical Unknown) |
0.00 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
0.00 %
|
Islam |
100.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
* From latest Pakistan census data. Current Christian values may substantially differ. |
Photo Source | Altaf Shaikh Creative Commons Used with permission |
Map Source | People Group Location: Omid. Other geography / data: GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project |
Video Source | The Waiting World |
Profile Source | Toni Tagimacruz |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Read more |