[9][5] The taxon was formally described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1837 as a separate species Falco peregrinator, based on a juvenile specimen caught on a ship between Sri Lanka and the Nicobar Islands.

[6][20] The shaheen is a small and powerful-looking falcon with blackish upperparts, rufous underparts with fine, dark streaks, and white on the throat.

It differs in all these features from the paler F. p. calidus, which is a winter visitor to India, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere in southern Asia.

[22] The shaheen is found in South Asia from India[4] and Bangladesh in the east and to Sri Lanka,[4] central and south-eastern China,[4] and northern Myanmar.

[23] The shaheen is the local resident species of the peregrine in Sri Lanka[21] where it is uncommon but found throughout the island in the lowlands, and at elevations of up to 1200 m in the hill country,[22] frequenting mountain cliffs and rock outcrops.

The sheer cliff faces provide it with nest sites and serve as vantage points from which it can launch aerial strikes against fast-flying birds such as swifts.

[23] In India the shaheen has been recorded as nesting on man-made structures such as buildings and mobile phone transmission towers.

[10] In Pakistani literature, the shaheen has a special association with the poetry of the country's national poet, Allama Iqbal.

[27] It also appears on the official seal of the Pakistan Air Force logo, and is used as a nickname for the Pakistani cricket team and for its player Shaheen Shah Afridi.