Shaikhs of Uttar Pradesh

Shaikh is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder."

[1][full citation needed] A community of early Shaikh colonists are the Qidwai, whose ancestor was claimed to be Qazi Qidwa, a son of the Sultans of Rum, in what is now modern Turkey.

[2] According to another tradition, Kazi Kidwa is said to have defeated a local ruler in the Awadh region by the name of Raja Jagdeopur.

[3][4][page needed] Historically, the Siddiqui, Hashmi and Farooqui shaikhs of Awadh and Rohilkhand (Budaun and Bareilly) were substantial landowners, often zamindars, taluqedar and jagirdar.

In the urban townships, Shaikh families served as priests, teachers and administrators, with the British colonial authorities given the community a preference in recruitment as soldiers and civil officers.