Subgroups: 3
Subgroup Name | Population ▼ | |
---|---|---|
Karigar | 160,000 | |
Bej | 9,500 | |
Siddiqui | 3,200 |
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 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 Bangladesh.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Shaikh
Profile Source: Toni Tagimacruz |
People Name General | Shaikh |
People Name in Country | Shaikh |
World Population | 235,972,300 |
Total Countries | 7 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | Yes |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 2737 |
Alternate Names | Faraji, Jhiwar, Shaik, Sheikh, Shekhzade, शैख़ |
People ID | 18084 |
ROP3 Code | 113585 |
Affinity Bloc | South Asian Peoples |
People Cluster | Bengali |
People Group | Shaikh |
Ethnic Code | CNN25r |
Total Subgroups | 3 |
Karigar 160,000 | |
Bej 9,500 | |
Siddiqui 3,200 |
Country | Bangladesh | |||||||||
Region | South Asia | |||||||||
Continent | Asia | |||||||||
10/40 Window | Yes | |||||||||
National Bible Society | Website | |||||||||
Persecution Rank | 48 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | |||||||||
Total States on file | 7 | |||||||||
Largest States |
|
|||||||||
Specialized Website | South Asia Peoples |
Country | Bangladesh |
Region | South Asia |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 48 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Total States | 7 |
Dhaka 46,099,000 | |
Chittagong 27,260,000 | |
Rajshahi 17,579,000 | |
Khulna 14,436,000 | |
Rangpur 14,312,000 | |
Sylhet 9,463,000 | |
Barisal 7,679,000 | |
Website | South Asia Peoples |
Primary Language | Bengali (105,490,000 speakers) | |||||||||
Language Code | ben Ethnologue Listing | |||||||||
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing | |||||||||
Total Languages | 9 | |||||||||
Secondary Languages |
|
Primary Language | Bengali (105,490,000 speakers) |
Language Code | ben Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 9 |
Secondary Languages | |
Chittagonian 8,226,000 | |
Sylheti 7,510,000 | |
Urdu 54,000 | |
Tippera 4,600 | |
Bhojpuri 1,300 | |
English 700 | |
Punjabi, Western 200 | |
Marwari 100 | |
People Groups | Speaking Bengali |
Primary Language: Bengali
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes (1800-1980) |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (1801-1984) |
Bible-Complete | Yes (1809-2000) |
Bible-NT Audio | Online |
Bible-NT Text | Online |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
World Bibles |
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name |
---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching (GRN) |
Audio Recordings | Online New Testament - Bangla Version (FCBH) |
Audio Recordings | Online New Testament - Mussolmani Version (FCBH) |
Audio Recordings | Online New Testament- Common Version (FCBH) |
Audio Recordings | Online Scripture (Talking Bibles) |
Audio Recordings | Oral Bible stories in Bengali |
Audio Recordings | Story of Jesus audio (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | Following Jesus (India, JF Project) |
Film / Video | God's Story Video |
Film / Video | I Am Guilty (Indigitube.tv) |
Film / Video | Jesus Film: view in Bengali |
Film / Video | Magdalena (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | My Last Day (Jesus Film Project Anime) |
Film / Video | Rivka (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | Story of Jesus for Children (JF Project) |
Film / Video | The Burning Heart (Indigitube.tv) |
Film / Video | The Prophets Story (Indigitube.tv) |
General | Bible Visuals |
General | Four Spiritual Laws |
General | God's Simple Plan |
Primary Religion: | Islam |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent * |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical 0.00 %) |
0.00 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
0.00 %
|
Islam |
100.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
Photo Source | Steve Evans Creative Commons |
Map Source | People Group Location: Omid. Other geography / data: GMI. Map Design: Joshua Project |
Profile Source | Toni Tagimacruz |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Read more |
* Religion Values | From latest Bangladesh census data. Current values may differ. |