The Ansaris of Panipat are descended from Khwaja Abdullah Pir of Herat, one of whose descendants settled in Panipat, which was a centre of learning and was already famous for its Mashaikh and Auliya.

Zakariya Khan, alternatively spelt as Zakaria Khan, was the Mughal Empire's subahdar of the Lahore Subah from 1726, succeeding his father, Abd al-Samad Khan, in the post.