Nayani

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The Nayani is one of the Hindu Clans in South Asia, like Panjwani, Rajani and Virani, that originated in Indian Gujrat in South Asia hundreds of years ago. In the 18th and 19th century, religious conversions took place primarily to Ismaili, one of the shia faction of Islam. Later, many converted to the isna asheri, another shia faction of Islam. After 1947, many of the Muslim Nayanis, both Ismaili shia and isna asheri shia, migrated to Pakistan. Today many Nayanis are living primarily in Karachi, Pakistan.

The name "Nayani" is also a very prevalent name given to many female children in the Sinhala parts of Sri Lanka. It has the meaning "beautiful eyes" and is traced back to Sanskrit and Pali language bases.