Kashmiri Shaikh
Kashmiri Shaikh or Kashmiri Sheikh (Template:Lang-ur) mainly live in Kashmir regions of Pakistan and India. The Kashmiri Shaikhs are considered to be a clan of Kashmiri origin also found predominantly in Pakistan Punjab and also in India.
After the advent of Islam into Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent, a significant number of Hindu Brahmins (of Kashmiri origin)[1] converted to Islam and adopted the title of Shaikh and later migrated to other regions. In Punjab, they are known as Kashmiri Shaikh. The Kashmiri Shaikhs are predominantly urban.
'According to the census return the number of Kashmiri Musulmans, who make up 60% of the inhabitants of the Jhelum valley, was 765,442. They are no doubt mostly descendants of various Hindu castes, perhaps in the main of Hill Brahmans, but Islam has wiped out all tribal distinctions.[2]
'The Hindu Kashmiri Pandits numbered 55,276.[3]
Notable people
- Sheikh Abdullah, Kashmiri politician
- Ghulam Ahmad, Pakistani forestry official and businessman
- Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Pakistani politician
References
- ^ 9788176482363.
- ^ The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir by Sir James Douie 1901, published by Low priced Publications, page 106
- ^ The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province and Kashmir by Sir James Douie 1901, published by Low priced Publications, page 107