[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.

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.

Concentrations of these mixed-race descendants of Arab merchants can be found especially in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

[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.

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.

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.

Arain are the generations of those Arab tribes who arrived with Umayyad General Muhammad Bin Qasim via Sindh in 711 A.D.