View source for Arabs in India

{{More citations needed|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group            = Arabs in India
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| population       =  
| popplace         = [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[West Bengal]], [[Bihar]], [[Gujarat]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Haryana]], [[Western Uttar Pradesh]], [[Eastern Uttar Pradesh]], [[Telangana]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]]
| langs            = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Kannada]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Malayalam]], [[Tulu language|Tulu]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Urdu]], [[English language|English]] and [[Arabic]]
| rels             = [[Islam]], [[Orthodoxy#Christianity|Orthodox Christianity]]
| related          = 
}}

'''Arabs in India''' are people with [[Arabs|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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pillalamarri|first=Akhilesh|title=India and the Gulf States Share a Long History|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/06/india-and-the-gulf-states-share-a-long-history/|access-date=2020-09-05|website=thediplomat.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Observer|first=Oman|date=2017-12-25|title=Ancient Oman had trade links with Indus Valley|url=https://www.omanobserver.om/ancient-oman-trade-links-indus-valley/|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Oman Observer|language=en-US}}</ref>  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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mohamed|first=K.M.|last2=Mohammad|first2=K.M.|date=1999|title=ARAB RELATIONS WITH MALABAR COAST FROM 9th TO 16th CENTURIES|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44144090|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=60|pages=226–234|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Over a span of several centuries, migrants from different Arabian nations emigrated to various regions and kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent as merchants, missionaries and through intermarriages.

==Communities==
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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Koya|first=S.M. Mohamad|date=1976|title=MUSLIMS OF THE MALABAR COAST AS DESCENDANTS OF THE ARABS|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44138933|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=37|pages=195–200|issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Many of these Arab merchants intermarried with local women. Concentrations of these mixed race descendants of Arab merchants can be found especially in Calicut and Mallapuram districts of Kerala. There also has been historic and close links 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.<ref>https://www.nasrani.net/2007/02/18/familytree-syrian-christians-dna-project/</ref>

Descendants of Arabs also live in the villages of [[Variav]] and [[Rander]] in [[Gujarat]].  In [[Hyderabad]], [[Chaush]] are an Arab community of [[Hadhrami people|Hadhrami]] descent whose ancestors were recruited as soldiers by [[Nizam of Hyderabad]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-13|title=Hadhramis present a slice of Yemen in India’s Hyderabad|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/12/13/Hadhramis-and-a-slice-of-Yemen-in-India-s-Hyderabad|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Al Arabiya English|language=en}}</ref> In coastal [[Karnataka]], [[Iraqis]] arrived during the reign of [[Tipu Sultan]]. They claim their ancestry from [[Banu Assad]]. These population migrations may have been favored 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]], [[Momin Ansari|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]], [[Thangal|Syed Thangals]] of Hadhrami descent settled around 17th century as missionaries to propagate [[Islam]].

There are also [[Shia|Shia Sayyids]] in Northern region of country who claim descent from [[Wasit]], [[Iraq]] like [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidis]] although some are falsely claiming this ancestry. [[Sayyid of Uttar Pradesh|Sunni Sayyid]] of the country also claim Arab descent from [[Sufi]] missionaries. 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 (surname)|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. [[Shaikhs in South Asia|Sunni 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 [[Ali|Alvi]] – [[Alawi (disambiguation)|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 (nesba)|Ansari]] claim their lineage to the [[Ansar (Islam)|Ansar]] tribes of [[Madina Munawwara]] and the companions of the Islamic[[prophet Muhammad]] such as [[Abu Ayyub al-Ansari]]. Many of the present 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 lineange 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]].<ref name="survey">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</ref> Each clan is of equal status, but the Quraishis are accorded seniority on account of the fact that they were the tribe of the Prophet [[Muhammad]].<ref name="survey" />
The community have remained strictly endogenous, with virtually no cases of intermarriage with neighboring [[Gujaratis]] communities.<ref name="survey" />

== Arab ancestry among Indians ==
It is estimated that several groups in India have [[Middle East]]ern Arab ancestry. Especially Muslim groups and various population in western India have at least some Arab ancestry. Genetic analyses show that Arab and other West Asian lineages are quite common in Indians.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Belle|first=Elise M. S.|last2=Shah|first2=Saima|last3=Parfitt|first3=Tudor|last4=Thomas|first4=Mark G.|date=2010-09-01|title=Y chromosomes of self-identified Syeds from the Indian subcontinent show evidence of elevated Arab ancestry but not of a recent common patrilineal origin|journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences|language=en|volume=2|issue=3|pages=217–224|doi=10.1007/s12520-010-0040-1|issn=1866-9565}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yelmen|first=Burak|last2=Mondal|first2=Mayukh|last3=Marnetto|first3=Davide|last4=Pathak|first4=Ajai K|last5=Montinaro|first5=Francesco|last6=Gallego Romero|first6=Irene|last7=Kivisild|first7=Toomas|last8=Metspalu|first8=Mait|last9=Pagani|first9=Luca|date=August 2019|title=Ancestry-Specific Analyses Reveal Differential Demographic Histories and Opposite Selective Pressures in Modern South Asian Populations|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=36|issue=8|pages=1628–1642|doi=10.1093/molbev/msz037|issn=0737-4038|pmc=6657728|pmid=30952160}}</ref>

==Immigration==
'''Number of Arabic speakers in India'''
* 1971: 23,318 
* 1981: 28,116 (+20.58%)
* 1991: 21,975 (−21.84%)
* 2001: 51,728 (+135.39%)
* 2011: 54,947 (+6.22%)

Source: Language Census of India 2011<ref>[http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf Census of India 2011 – Language]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Arab diaspora]]
* [[Adnani Arabs]]
* [[Chaush (India)]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian Muslim}}
{{Arab diaspora}}
{{Immigration to India}}
{{Muhajir communities}}

[[Category:Social groups of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of India]]
[[Category:Muslim communities of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]
[[Category:Arab diaspora in India| ]]
[[Category:Arab groups]]
[[Category:Hadhrami people]]
[[Category:Indian people of Arab descent| ]]