[citation needed] These included judges; qazi who were styled sahib or sahibzada, lawyers and a wide variety of other legal functionaries, who would form the principal officers in district or regional courts of investigation, in criminal matters and in offences of a "spiritual nature".
[3] As land administrators they maintained a monopoly in the possession of esoteric and often ancient information [4] and in this context, were considered at best the “refuge of the husbandmen” [5] and at worst; corrupt high officers of empire who manipulated records to their remunerative advantage.
A minority of Qanungoh Shaikhs adhere to the Shia Islam whilst others originating in lower Punjab and Baluchistan are Sunni and may belong to various Sufi orders.
Many well-known political figures and other great academics have arisen from the Qanungo Shaikhs, examples being Sessions Judge Khan Bahadur Maulvi Imam Ali, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Sharif, the former President of Pakistan Wasim Sajjad, the lawyer and jurist Sir Abdul Qadir, his son Manzoor Qadir who drafted the first constitution of Pakistan, Sheikh Anwarul Haq and also Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, the former Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and MNA from Attock, amongst many others.
The title of Qanungoh appeared in the Sub-Continent between 1270 and 1290 owing to migrations of the minor Arab aristocracy prompted by Hulegu Khan's destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad.