Qureshi

For people with the surname, see List of people with surname Qureshi.

Qureshi is a surname, is driven from Arabic words (Arabic: قُرَيْشٍ) when writing in English it has various spelling formation such as Quraish ^[1]Qurayš, Qureshi/Quraishi/Qurashi is often spelled “Qurashi” (القرشي) in Arabic, and it refers to someone descended from the Quraysh tribe (قبيلة قريش), the tribe of Prophet Muhammad.

This is similar to how your find many spelling for Arabic word محمد / Mohammed ^[2] It is a common Muslim surname.

It was during the Umayyad caliphate when Islam reached sindh modern day Pakistan, which was part of the caliphate ^[3]this is where migration of Qureshi family started to subcontinent and continued over time even during Abbasid caliphate ^[4]Both caliphate were from Qureshi family ^[5]

It is a common surname in South Asia, especially in Pakistan (82%: 1,210,000, out of 1,470,000 worldwide), where it is the ninth most common surname. India has the second most (11%: 162,000). It is also present in parts of Western Asia, in Saudi Arabia (2.5%: 36,300), Iran, and England (0.65%: 9,580).^[6][7]

Families using this spelling of the surname Qureshi in the Indian subcontinent are descendants from the Quraish tribe of ancient Mecca.^[7] However, DNA testing has shown that the largest group identifying with this surname are based out of Asian/Pacific Islander.^[8] this is due to the migration which took place as part of expansion Islam into subcontinent ^[9]

Muhammad bin Qasim’s invasion of Sindh in 711 CE marked a pivotal moment in the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate into the Indian subcontinent^[10] One significant migration took place during the early Islamic conquests. In 711 CE, the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim led an expedition into Sindh (present-day Pakistan), bringing many Arab settlers, including members of the Qureshi tribe, into the region. These settlers established themselves in Sindh and played a role in the area’s administration and cultural development.^[9]