Mirshikar

The Mirshekar are a Muslim community, found in North India .

History and origin

The word Mirshekar is a combination of two Urdu words, mir meaning lord and shekar meaning a hunt, and their name means a leader of a hunting party. They were a community who were employed as trekkers by the various rulers of north and central Bihar. They were initially settled in Bihar and Uttar pradesh. The Mirshikar speak a dialect which is a combination of Urdu and Hindi

Present circumstances

The Mirshekar are scattered are all over Bihar and Uttar pradesh . They are an endogamous community, marrying close kin. Just like other muslim community the majority of them are landless agricultural labourers. There has also been a steady emigration of the Mirshekar to other states of India, where many are now found. A few are also involved in the manufacture of bamboos flute.Just like other muslim community in india they are also an extremely marginalized community, with a poor literacy rates. The Mirshekar are Sunni Muslims, and are fairly orthodox.