diff --git a/docs/api.rst b/docs/api.rst
index 839cc5cb..3e69437f 100644
--- a/docs/api.rst
+++ b/docs/api.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ API Documentation
     we, however, recommend that people use keyword arguments for all calls for
     consistency and safety.
 
+.. note::
+   
+    for compatibility with the Python ecosystem we use ``from_`` instead of
+    ``from`` and ``doc_type`` instead of ``type`` as parameter names.
+
 .. py:module:: elasticsearch
 
 Elasticsearch
diff --git a/elasticsearch/client/__init__.py b/elasticsearch/client/__init__.py
index 2fdafa3d..00c0066e 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/client/__init__.py
+++ b/elasticsearch/client/__init__.py
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ class Elasticsearch(object):
     @query_params('_source', '_source_exclude', '_source_include',
         'analyze_wildcard', 'analyzer', 'default_operator', 'df',
         'explain', 'fields', 'ignore_indices', 'indices_boost', 'lenient',
-        'lowercase_expanded_terms', 'offset', 'preference', 'q', 'routing',
+        'lowercase_expanded_terms', 'from_', 'preference', 'q', 'routing',
         'scroll', 'search_type', 'size', 'sort', 'source', 'stats',
         'suggest_field', 'suggest_mode', 'suggest_size', 'suggest_text', 'timeout',
         'version')
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ class Elasticsearch(object):
         :arg lenient: Specify whether format-based query failures (such as
             providing text to a numeric field) should be ignored
         :arg lowercase_expanded_terms: Specify whether query terms should be lowercased
-        :arg offset: Starting offset (default: 0)
+        :arg from_: Starting offset (default: 0)
         :arg preference: Specify the node or shard the operation should be
             performed on (default: random)
         :arg q: Query in the Lucene query string syntax
@@ -350,6 +350,10 @@ class Elasticsearch(object):
         :arg timeout: Explicit operation timeout
         :arg version: Specify whether to return document version as part of a hit
         """
+        # from is a reserved word so it cannot be used, use from_ instead
+        if 'from_' in params:
+            params['from'] = params.pop('from_')
+
         if doc_type and not index:
             index = '_all'
         _, data = self.transport.perform_request('GET', _make_path(index, doc_type, '_search'),
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_client/__init__.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_client/__init__.py
index caa77eda..800ecb0b 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_client/__init__.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_client/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from elasticsearch.client import _normalize_hosts
 
-from ..test_cases import TestCase
+from ..test_cases import TestCase, ElasticsearchTestCase
 
 class TestNormalizeHosts(TestCase):
     def test_none_uses_defaults(self):
@@ -17,3 +17,9 @@ class TestNormalizeHosts(TestCase):
 
     def test_dicts_are_left_unchanged(self):
         self.assertEquals([{"host": "local", "extra": 123}], _normalize_hosts([{"host": "local", "extra": 123}]))
+
+class TestClient(ElasticsearchTestCase):
+    def test_from_in_search(self):
+        self.client.search(index='i', doc_type='t', from_=10)
+        calls = self.assert_url_called('GET', '/i/t/_search')
+        self.assertEquals([({'from': '10'}, None)], calls)