Saifi

Saifi
Classification	Muslim, artisans
Religions	Islam
Languages	Hindi and Urdu
Populated States	Uttar Pradesh India and Punjab Pakistan
Subdivisions	none

The Saifi are a Muslim community found primarily in the Uttar Pradesh state in India. They are also known as Muslim Lohar.

History & Origin

The Saifi are a community associated with the occupation of carpentry and ironsmithy. Their name comes from the Arabic word Saif, which means a sword. Like many other artisan communities in North India, they claim descent from Arab immigrants to India, who arrived during the period of the Delhi Sultanate

They speak Urdu, as well as local dialect's of Hindi.

Present Circumstances

The Saifi are a Sunni Muslim community. They also visit the shrines of various Sufi saints found in North India, such as Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

The Saifi have their own council of elders to deal with matters relating to the community. This panchayat deals with issues such as elopment, fights, thefts and disrespect of community norms. They are an endogamous community, and cross cousin and parrelel cousin marriages are prevalent.

Distribution

In Uttar Pradesh, they are primarily found in the Bulandshahr, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Ghaziabad ,Aligarh districts, with other significant populations existing in Lucknow, Bareilly, and Gorakhpur.. They are also present in the Rohilkhand region, as well as in Delhi.

Quite a few Saifi have immigrated to Pakistan, where they form an important element in the Muhajir community.

See also

• Shaikhs in South Asia
• Hajjam
• Qassab
• Momin Ansari
• Manihar
• Muslim Halwai
• Kasgar
• Bhatiara