Qassab

The Qassab (Urdu: قصاب‎; plural of قصائی Qasai, meaning butcher) are members of the Muslim community or biradari involved in the meat business. Many members of the Qassab community are butchers and work in abattoirs and meat shops where they process and sell the meat of poultry, seafood, cattle, goats, and sheep.

The most common surname of Qassab community is Quraishi. But not all Quraishis are Qassab. The Quraishi Qassab are found in North India and Pakistan. They are also known as Chikwa, Bare Qasab, and Bakar Qasab.

History and origin

The community are the traditional butchers of North India and Pakistan, and get their name from the Arabic word gassab, which means to cut or slit. According to their traditions, they claim descent from early Arab settlers to India, who arrived at the time of the Sultanate of Delhi. These Arabs belonged to the Quresh tribe, the tribe of the Prophet Mohammed, and as such the community is thus also known as Qureshi.

They have three sub-divisions, the Chikwa who are found in the Rohilkhand and Awadh regions of Uttar Pradesh, and are connected with the slaughtering animals such as sheep and goats, and the Qureshi Qassab, who slaughter cows and buffaloes. A third sub-group are the Bawarchi, a community found mainly in the city of Lucknow and in Gujarat, who are professional cooks. Each Qassab group has a different story as to their origin and migration. For example, most Qassab in the Deccan region claim to have arrived with the armies of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's invading armies.