Population movement from the Arab World to the Indian subcontinent
Ethnic group
Arabs in India
|
|
54,947
[1]
|
|
Kerala
,
Andhra Pradesh
,
West Bengal
,
Bihar
,
Telangana
,
Punjab
,
Gujarat
,
Madhya Pradesh
,
Sindh
,
Haryana
,
Western Uttar Pradesh
,
Maharashtra
,
Eastern Uttar Pradesh
,
Karnataka
,
Delhi
,
Rajasthan
and
Tamil Nadu
|
|
Gujarati
,
Tamil
,
Bengali
,
Malayalam
,
Urdu
,
English
and
Arabic
|
|
Islam
|
Arabs in India
are people with
Arab
origins who have over a long period of time, settled in the
Indian subcontinent
. There have been extensive trade and cultural links between India and the Arab world spanning several millennia.
[2]
[3]
The west coast region of India, especially
Malabar
and Konkan coasts were active trading hubs, where Arab merchants frequently used to visit on their way to Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
[4]
Over a span of several centuries, migrants from different Arabian nations immigrated to various regions and kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent as merchants, missionaries and through intermarriages.
Communities
[
edit
]
The earliest immigrants from the Arab world arrived as merchants to the
Malabar
coastal region of South West India, today consisting of the state of Kerala.
[5]
Many of these Arab merchants intermarried with local women. Concentrations of these mixed-race descendants of Arab merchants can be found especially in the
Kozhikode
and
Malappuram
districts of
Kerala
. There also have been historic and close links between the Orthodox churches of South-West India and the Christian Arab orthodox churches in the middle east for several centuries, especially among the Orthodox Christians in India and Syria, which they maintain until this day and many of the Christians from these communities have claimed their ancestors are Arabs and the DNA results support this claim with
Haplogroup G-M201
and
Haplogroup J-M304
being prominent.
[6]
Descendants of Arabs also live in the villages of
Variav
and
Rander
in
Gujarat
. In
Hyderabad
,
Chaush
are an Arab community of
Hadhrami
descent whose ancestors were recruited as soldiers by
Nizam of Hyderabad
.
[7]
Konkani Muslims
trace their ancestry to traders from
Hadhramaut
(in
Yemen
or
South Arabia
).
[8]
In coastal
Karnataka
, a group of
Persian
speaking Sunni Muslims from
Iraq
having
Assadi
surname arrived in
Mangalore
during the reign of
Tipu Sultan
. They claim their ancestry from
Banu Assad
. These population migrations may have been favoured by both the
Nizam of Hyderabad
and
Tipu Sultan
of
Mysore
because both had their ancestral linkages to these populations. The
Asaf Jahi Dynasty
claimed Arab ancestry from
Asir Province
and Tipu Sultan from the
Bani Hashim
of
Hijaz
Province in
Arabia
. Many Arabs having
Adnani
ancestry such as
Quraishi
,
Ansari
tribes and other descendants of the
Sahaba
were employed by the
Princely States
in their military as they were found efficient during warfare in Gujarat and Karnataka. In
Kerala
,
Syed Thangals
of Hadhrami descent settled around the 17th century as missionaries to propagate
Islam
.
There are also
Shia Sayyids
in the Northern region of the country who claim descent from
Wasit
,
Iraq
like
Zaidis
although some are falsely claiming this ancestry.
[
citation needed
]
Sunni Sayyid
of the country also claim Arab descent from
Sufi
missionaries although these claims are also dubious. Most of the Sufis migrated from
Persia
. Sunni Sayyids claim their Arab ancestry through
Imam Hassan
or
Imam Hussain
, in which case their names may be
Hassani
,
Hussaini
,
Hashmi
,
Naqvi
and
Bukhari
. Some also claim descent from both and are termed "
Najeeb al-Tarfayn
" or "Noble on both sides". Many Sufi Saints such as
Abdul-Qadir Gilani
and
Moinuddin Chishti
and their descendants claim themselves as
Najeeb al-Tarfayn
however some claim this descent falsely.
Indian Sheikhs
also claim Arab descent from Sufis or migrants. They belongs
Quraish
tribe and trace lineage from
Umar
?
Farooqi
,
Abu Bakr
-
Siddiqui
,
Uthman
?
Usmani
and
Alvi
?
Alawi
, Alvi Awan or
Mir
, who established the
Rashidun Caliphate
. Mainly
Sheikhs
who trace their lineage to
Quraish
tribe are
Quraishi
. Many who can vaguely trace their lineage to the
Quraish
tribe call themselves
Quraishi
. Many having the name
Ansari
claim their lineage to the
Ansar
tribes of
Madina Munawwara
and the companions of the
Islamic prophet
Muhammad]] such as
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
. Many of the present Indian Sheikhs converted from Hindu castes such as
Kayasth
and
Rajput
.
There are also descendants of Syed
Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari
and through his grandson Syed Jahaniyan Jahangsht, who can trace their lineage to the
Twelve Imams
from the lineage of
Imam Ali al-Hadi
(known as Imam Naqi). The Sufi Saint Jalaludin Surkh Posh settled in modern-day Punjab to spread Islam.
During the early twentieth century, the Arabs abandoned
Arabic
for
Urdu
.
[9]
Each clan is of equal status, but the Quraishis are accorded seniority as the tribe of
Muhammad
.
[9]
The community have remained strictly endogenous, with virtually no cases of intermarriage with native Indian ethnolinguistic communities such as the
Gujaratis
.
[9]
In
Punjab
region of Pakistan side including Indian Punjab and
Sindh
region of Pakistan various tribes such as
Arain
,
Abbasi
, and
Bukhari
,
Syeds
who also claim to be Arabs. Arain are the generations of those Arab tribes who arrived with
Umayyad
General
Muhammad Bin Qasim
via Sindh in 711 A.D.
Arab ancestry among Indians
[
edit
]
It is estimated that several groups in India have
Middle Eastern
Arab ancestry. Especially Muslim groups and various populations in western India have at least some Arab ancestry. Genetic analyses show that Arab and other West Asian lineages are quite common in Indians.
[10]
[11]
Arabic speakers in India
Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1971
| 23,318
| ?
|
---|
1981
| 28,116
| +20.6%
|
---|
1991
| 21,975
| ?21.8%
|
---|
2001
| 51,728
| +135.4%
|
---|
2011
| 54,947
| +6.2%
|
---|
Source: Language Census of India (
2011
)
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Language"
(PDF)
.
Census of India
. 2011.
- ^
Pillalamarri, Akhilesh.
"India and the Gulf States Share a Long History"
.
thediplomat.com
. Retrieved
2020-09-05
.
- ^
Observer, Oman (2017-12-25).
"Ancient Oman had trade links with Indus Valley"
.
Oman Observer
. Retrieved
2020-09-05
.
- ^
Mohamed, K.M.; Mohammad, K.M. (1999).
"ARAB RELATIONS WITH MALABAR COAST FROM 9th TO 16th CENTURIES"
.
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress
.
60
: 226?234.
ISSN
2249-1937
.
JSTOR
44144090
.
- ^
Koya, S.M. Mohamad (1976).
"Muslims of the Malabar Coast as Descendants of the Arabs"
.
Proceedings of the Indian History Congress
.
37
: 195?200.
ISSN
2249-1937
.
JSTOR
44138933
.
- ^
"Familytree - Syrian Christians DNA Project Information Nasranis"
. 18 February 2007.
- ^
"Hadhramis present a slice of Yemen in India's Hyderabad"
.
Al Arabiya English
. 2018-12-13
. Retrieved
2020-09-05
.
- ^
Khalidi, Omar
(1996).
"The Arabs of Hadramawt in Hyderabad"
. In Kulkarni; Naeem; De Souza (eds.).
Mediaeval Deccan History
.
Bombay
: Popular Prakashan.
ISBN
978-8-1715-4579-7
.
- ^
a
b
c
People of India Gujarat Volume XXII Part One Editors R. B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan and M Azeez Mohideen pages 74 to 77
- ^
Belle, Elise M. S.; Shah, Saima; Parfitt, Tudor; Thomas, Mark G. (2010-09-01). "Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian subcontinent show evidence of elevated Arab ancestry but not of a recent common patrilineal origin".
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
.
2
(3): 217?224.
doi
:
10.1007/s12520-010-0040-1
.
ISSN
1866-9565
.
S2CID
16195047
.
- ^
Yelmen, Burak; Mondal, Mayukh; Marnetto, Davide; Pathak, Ajai K; Montinaro, Francesco; Gallego Romero, Irene; Kivisild, Toomas; Metspalu, Mait; Pagani, Luca (August 2019).
"Ancestry-Specific Analyses Reveal Differential Demographic Histories and Opposite Selective Pressures in Modern South Asian Populations"
.
Molecular Biology and Evolution
.
36
(8): 1628?1642.
doi
:
10.1093/molbev/msz037
.
ISSN
0737-4038
.
PMC
6657728
.
PMID
30952160
.
|
---|
Africa
| |
---|
Asia
| |
---|
Europe
| North
| |
---|
Southeast
| |
---|
South
| |
---|
West
| |
---|
|
---|
North America
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
South America
| |
---|
Immigration to India
|
---|
Relevant issues and events
| |
---|
Africa
| |
---|
Asia
| East
| |
---|
South
| |
---|
Southeast
| |
---|
West
| |
---|
|
---|
Europe
| |
---|
North America
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
South America
| |
---|
See also
| |
---|