Zaidi (surname)

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For Other uses, see Zaidi.
Not to be confused with Zaidiyah.

People with the surname Zaidi trace their origins to the Islamic Holy City of Mecca, located in present-day Saudi Arabia. Zaid ibn Ali was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin who was the great grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad thus the descendants of Zaid ibn Ali are known as Sayyid- an honorific title bestowed upon to the descendants of Muhammad. In Present times, the Descendants of Zaid ibn Ali can be found in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The surname Al-Zaidi (Az-Zaidi) can denote one or both of the following:

  • Sayyid Arab descendants of Zayd ibn Ali that either stayed in Kufa, Iraq or returned to Al-Hijaz.
  • The use of the surname Al-Zaidi to designate association may be with the Zaidiyyah madhhab, whose adherents are found in Yemen. This is akin to the use of the surnames Al-Hanafi, Al-Maliki, Al-Shafi'i, etc.

The Wasitis/Zaidis in South Asia[]

The Zaidis of the Indian subcontinent use the proper noun "Wasiti" as a form of self-identification. Zayd ibn Ali is believed to have succumbed to injuries he sustain during a battle in Kufa, Iraq; many of his descendants either returned to al-Hijaz or remained in Iraq. Some of those who stayed in Iraq settled in Wasit. Some descendants from Wasit then moved to the Indian subcontinent. Most of the Zaidis migrated after the Mongol Siege of Baghdad in 1258. Most of them are settled in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.[1]

The largest group among those identifying themselves as Zaidi is Saadat-e-Bara. Saadat means descendant of Muhammad and Bara means twelve in Urdu. There are many interpretations of word bara and many spellings are current: Bara, Bahera, Barha (as spelled in Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri, Akbarnama and other Moghul sources) and Bahira meaning "bright" in Arabic language. One explanation of the word is as mentioned above; another is that there are twelve villages in Muzaffarnagar District and their residents were called Sadat Barha.

These Sayyeds are descendants of Sayyid Abu'l Farah Al Hussaini Al Wasti who came to India from Wasit (Iraq) in the 11th century along with his four sons who settled in four villages of Punjab, Kundliwaal, Chhatbanur, Tihanpur and Jajner giving names to all four clans of Sadat Barha. Their numbers are highest in Karachi (Pakistan) and Muzaffarnagar (India). The Kundliwal clan mainly live in Mujhera, Hashimpur, Valipura, Saifpur, Sikrehra Khola, Tandhera, Khujhera, Khedhi Pachenda and Sarai Rasulpur Jarauda (Meerut). The Chhatraudi clan live in Sambalhera,Tissa,Yousufpur, Lakhmapur (Jaunpur) most of then again migrated to Pakistan in 1946–1947, Peeropur (Bhadohi), Kakrauli, Miranpur, Kawal Saidpura Kalan, Morna,Jauli, Senthal,Sirdhani and Kaithora & Village Gothada, Thasra & Pali in the State of Gujarat. A small number of Zaidi Sayyeds live in villages like Galibpur (a few migrated from Mahmoodpur), Paldi, Chandauri also. Sayyid from Zaidi Sayyed also migrated from Jansath to villages located in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, namely Sikanderpur, Kandipur (one of the biggest village with Zaidis population in North India), Faizabad District, Mawai District Jaunpur.

Notable people with the surname Al-Zaidi[]

  • Muntadhar al-Zaidi (born 1979), Iraqi broadcast journalist who serves as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Baghdadia TV

Notable people with the surname Zaidi[]

Art & literature
Architecture
Government
Media
Religion
Sport

See also[]

  • Zaidiyah
  • Sayyid
  • Saadat-e-Bara
  • Wasti, lists notable people with the surname Wasti

References[]

  1. ^ Article by Sayyid 'Ali ibn 'Ali Al-Zaidi, التاريخ الصغير عن الشيعة اليمنيين (A short History of the Yemenite Shi‘ites, 2005)
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