Qazi (surname)

Qazi is a Kashmiri Pandit clan or surname, native to the Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India.

History and usage
Last names in Kashmir were created and taken on, on the basis of tribal (caste) backgrounds. The Brahmins in the region were tribally divided further into 103 gotras. Each gotra was further divided into distinctive krams. A kram is often the relic of a nickname applied to the ancestor of the subdivision. These krams later became surnames in the Kashmiri naming system.

Some local Brahmins were holding spheres of influence in the valley, even after the advent of Islam in Kashmir, by owning different jobs and positions of higher status. One of these influential Brahmin krams was Qazi. The name Qazi was used by those Brahmins who decided cases, i.e., worked as judges under the Muslim rulers.

Notable Kashmiris named Qazis

 * Abrar Qazi, actor in Indian television drama
 * Shafat Qazi, entrepreneur and film producer
 * Qazi Nisar, politician and former Mirwaiz of southern Kashmir
 * Qazi Touqeer, singer
 * Qazi Yasir, suspended Mirwaiz of southern Kashmir