e/Ashraaf

Information
has gloss	eng: Ashraaf comes from Arabic (أشراف) and is the plural form of Sharif or Shareef (شريف), which literally means "noble" or "priviliged". In some countries it used as a term to denote descendants of Muhammed (see Sharif or Shareef). Among South Asian Muslims it used as a term for the Muslim gentry in South Asia, usually claiming Arab or Turkish descent. This group is the equivalent, in some ways, of the European concept of the "gentry" and families/clans within this group have a family name that signify their position—often based on descent from The Prophet, his immediate circle, major Sufi personalities, or from Genghis Khan or other Mongol and Turkish warlords. (See Baig and Khan.) Some families also have names based on places in (both places in South Asia and places in Iran, Afghanistan and the Arab world—like Badakhshani from the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan) or Sufi orders—thus Chishti or Warsi might signify an affiliation/reverence to Moinuddeen Chishti or Nizamuddin Chishti on the one hand or the saint at Dewain Shareef on the other.
lexicalization	eng: Ashraaf
instance of	e/Social group