Shia Islam in India

Shia Muslims are a large minority among India's Muslims. There has been no particular census conducted in India with regards to sects, but Indian sources claimed the Shia population in mid 2005–2006 was between 25% and 31% of the entire Muslim population of India which accounts them in numbers between 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 plus of the then 157 million Indian Muslim population. However, as per an estimation of one reputed Shia NGO Alimaan Trust, India's Shia population in early 2000 was around 30 million with Sayyids comprising just a tenth of the Shia population. According to some national and international sources Indian Shia population is the world's second-largest after Iran.

The Shia population was also acclaimed publicly as second largest by the 14th Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh quoted in the year 2005. One of the lingering problems in estimating the Shia population is that even though the Shia form a significant minority in a Muslim country, the entire population is often listed as Sunni. Shiites are estimated to be 21–35 percent of the Muslim population in South Asia, although the total number is difficult to estimate due to the intermingling between the Islamic schools and branches and practice of taqiyya (a form of concealment when in minority) by Shias.

There are many big and small towns and villages with a majority Shiite Muslim population in India. Many Sayyids between 11th to 16th century migrated to the Indian subcontinent to escape the persecution of Shias in mostly Sunni ruled Middle East, Prominent places in India with majority or considerable Shia Muslim population are Kargil, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Hallaur, Amroha and others.

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