Paracha Clans in South Asia
They migrated from northern Yemen in the time of Prophet Muhammad (in 7th Century C.E.) and traveled to Iran where they were called Ferashas or people who were direct descendants of one Ali Yamani, a cloth trader who used to prepare the ground for Prophet Muhammad to pray upon. Ferash in Persian means ground.From Persia, many from this clan traveled to Afghanistan and western India, known today as Pakistan. Most of them settled in Makhad in the 12th Century C.E. In India and Pakistan they became to be known as Parachas. It is believed that the clan settled in what is presently northern Pakistan under the rule of the mughal emperor Akbar.

Language
The tribe which today mostly speak Punjabi, Hindko, Pushto as well as Pothohari dialect of Punjabi.

Present Paracha
Paracha's (known by the individual prefixes of the seven groups) are wealthy Muslim traders of NWFP (North West Frontier Province) and northwestern Punjab of Pakistan.This wealthy class is found in large number at Lahore (Mochi Darwaza) Sargodha, Makhad, Attock(malahi tola) (Haji Shah), Kohat, Mangowal, Shahpur, Khushab, Quetta, Peshawar and Nowshera Malakand division. They used to trade as far as Central Asia, chiefly in Cloth, Silk, Indigo and Tea.

The Paracha tribe, which is one of the largest in Pakistan and today scattered all over the country and even in India, is said to have become a large clan in Makhad in the 10th Century of the common era.

Today, the Parachas are scattered all over the world in various professions. Some believe Parachas to be of Shahi Turkish descent.

Shah pur or (Shahpur Shahapur) is a city located in the west Punjab, Pakistan. It lies on the Jhelum River. Its old name was Rampur and it had a majority Hindu population until the 17th century. The name changed after the arrival of a Sufi saint Shah Shams Sherazi from Delhi.