Gujarat
In Gujarat, most of the Sayyid families are descended from individuals invited by the Muslim rulers of Gujarat to serve as advisers and administrators, and were granted jagirs. During the period of Sultan Mahmud Begada (1458–1511), the sultan provided land to three Sayyid brothers and a grant to settle there after the victory of Pavagadh Fort. In 1484 the sultan conquered the fort on 21 November 1484 and transferred his capital to Champaner, which he completely rebuilt at the foothills of the Pavagadh Fort and named it Muhammadabad. During Mughal rule in Gujarat (1570–1750), the Sayyid held the majority of the civil and ecclesiastical posts. For example, the Sayyids of Thasra, Kheda district, were invited to serve as administrators and judges by the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, and were provided land grants to settle there. They also comprised a significant portion of the Mughal army, and many are still found in old Muslim garrison towns like Ahmedabad. Many of the early Sufi saints that came to Gujarat belonged to Sayyid families, most of which came from Central Asia, Iran, Yemen, Oman, Basra, and Bahrain. South India
Kerala
Thangals, a social group in among the Muslims of Kerala (most whom follow the Shafii madhab), are roughly equivalent to the Sayyids. The thangal families are numerous in Kerala. Most members of the community practices endogamy and some are considered as saints. Thangal families have many gradations of status on social and economic scale. Influential of the thangals generally come from prominent business families.
sâda as in sādat Quraysh or the chiefs of Quraysh tribe) does not mean descendant of the prophet, for it existed before Islam.Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic defines seyyid as master, chief, sovereign, or lord. It also denotes someone respected and of a status. Sayyid is also a common first name. Prominent figures are: Sayed Darwish, Sayyid Qutb, Sayed Mekawy. Although reliable statistics are unavailable, conservative estimates put the number of Sayyids in the tens of millions.In the Arab world, sayyid is the equivalent of the English word "liege lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in Sayyid Ali Sultan. The word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, "my liege") is often used in Arabic.Another term with a very similar meaning is Sharīf. History
The Sayyids are by definition a branch of Banu Hashim, which traces its lineage to Adnan, and therefore directly descends from Ishmael (Ismaeyl), and collaterally descends from his paternal half-brother Isaac (Ishaaq), the sons of Abraham (Ibrahim). Banū Hāshim (Arabic: بنو هاشم) is the clan of Muhammad, whose great-grandfather was Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to as Hashemites. Descendants of Muhammad usually carry the titles Sayyid, Syed, Hashmi, Sayed or Sharif, or the Ashraf clan (synonymous to Ahl al-Bayt). Today, two sovereign monarchs – Abdullah II of Jordan and Muhammad VI of Morocco – and the former royal family of Libya are also considered to be a part of Banu Hashim.