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The Shaikh is a Muslim community commonly found in the state of Bihar in India. They are part of the larger Shaikh community of South Asia. A number of Bihari Shaikh families are also found in the city of Karachi in Pakistan. Common surnames used by the community include Farooqi, Osmani, Siddiqui and Shaikh.〔People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 872 to 875 Seagull Books〕 Shaikhs in Bihar and Bengal, which were part of the same kingdoms, are mostly laborers and agriculturalists. ==History and origin== The word Shaikh in Arabic means a tribal elder or headman. The Kulhaiya Shaikh are found mainly in Araria District and in Kadwa. They get their name from the custom of not marrying within their clan or kul in Hindi, or within their village. They speak kulhaiya, while many also now have some knowledge of Urdu. The community are converts from the Ahir caste, and said to have converted in the 16th Century. The term Shaikh now covers a large number of communities of no definite origin, since the name has been used by any individuals of wide background. This is especially the case in Bihar, for example in the Purnea division, where the Shaikh form just under one-third of the population. Some Shaikhs played a key role in the early Islamic history of Bihar, serving as courtiers and administrators for the Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal rulers. These Shaikhs were local Muslim converts converted by Sufi missionaries from Middle-east although some of them were immigrants from the West of India . The oldest Shaikh families settled in Bihar Sharif, which was the centre of early Muslim rule in the region. Often these early settlers from the Central Asia were granted jagirs (estates), and were the earliest Muslim colonists in the region. 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. This practice led to a large increase in those who call themselves Shaikhs, and these converts now form by far the largest Bihari Muslim community. The term Shaikh, particularly in Bihar and Bengal refers to any Muslim, and in the Muslim majority Purnia Division, covers four distinct groups.〔 In East India, the term Shaikh is closer to its intended meaning in Arabian language i.e. an elder or old man. In fact, not only in Bihar but also in its parent state Bengal (W.Bengal and Bangladesh); Shaikhs comprise one of the three major social groups the other two being Khans and Kayasthas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shaikh of Bihar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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