diff --git a/release-notes/opensearch.release-notes-2.8.0.md b/release-notes/opensearch.release-notes-2.8.0.md
index 556e1f0047595..4f7dc38997e1e 100644
--- a/release-notes/opensearch.release-notes-2.8.0.md
+++ b/release-notes/opensearch.release-notes-2.8.0.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 - [Search Pipelines] Add RenameFieldResponseProcessor for Search Pipelines ([#7377](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7377))
 - [Search Pipelines] Split search pipeline processor factories by type ([#7597](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7597))
 - [Search Pipelines] Add script processor ([#7607](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7607))
+- Add descending order search optimization through reverse segment read. ([#7244](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7244))
 - Add 'unsigned_long' numeric field type ([#6237](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/6237))
 - Add back primary shard preference for queries ([#7375](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7375))
 - Add task cancellation timestamp in task API ([#7455](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/7455))
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/metadata/DataStream.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/metadata/DataStream.java
index 825aaee1ad1f8..f4be1cfff489c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/metadata/DataStream.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/cluster/metadata/DataStream.java
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
 
 package org.opensearch.cluster.metadata;
 
+import org.apache.lucene.document.LongPoint;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.LeafReader;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.PointValues;
+import org.opensearch.OpenSearchException;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.AbstractDiffable;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.Diff;
 import org.opensearch.core.ParseField;
@@ -46,6 +50,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -59,6 +64,24 @@
 public final class DataStream extends AbstractDiffable<DataStream> implements ToXContentObject {
 
     public static final String BACKING_INDEX_PREFIX = ".ds-";
+    public static final String TIMESERIES_FIELDNAME = "@timestamp";
+    public static final Comparator<LeafReader> TIMESERIES_LEAF_SORTER = Comparator.comparingLong((LeafReader r) -> {
+        try {
+            PointValues points = r.getPointValues(TIMESERIES_FIELDNAME);
+            if (points != null) {
+                // could be a multipoint (probably not) but get the maximum time value anyway
+                byte[] sortValue = points.getMaxPackedValue();
+                // decode the first dimension because this should not be a multi dimension field
+                // it's a bug in the date field if it is
+                return LongPoint.decodeDimension(sortValue, 0);
+            } else {
+                // segment does not have a timestamp field, just return the minimum value
+                return Long.MIN_VALUE;
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new OpenSearchException("Not a timeseries Index! Field [{}] not found!", TIMESERIES_FIELDNAME);
+        }
+    }).reversed();
 
     private final String name;
     private final TimestampField timeStampField;
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/IndexSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/IndexSettings.java
index e125facb76059..de7dc102939ce 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/IndexSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/IndexSettings.java
@@ -665,6 +665,7 @@ private void setRetentionLeaseMillis(final TimeValue retentionLease) {
     private volatile long mappingTotalFieldsLimit;
     private volatile long mappingDepthLimit;
     private volatile long mappingFieldNameLengthLimit;
+    private volatile boolean searchSegmentOrderReversed;
 
     /**
      * The maximum number of refresh listeners allows on this shard.
@@ -905,6 +906,10 @@ public IndexSettings(final IndexMetadata indexMetadata, final Settings nodeSetti
         scopedSettings.addSettingsUpdateConsumer(DEFAULT_SEARCH_PIPELINE, this::setDefaultSearchPipeline);
     }
 
+    private void setSearchSegmentOrderReversed(boolean reversed) {
+        this.searchSegmentOrderReversed = reversed;
+    }
+
     private void setSearchIdleAfter(TimeValue searchIdleAfter) {
         this.searchIdleAfter = searchIdleAfter;
     }
@@ -1084,6 +1089,13 @@ public Settings getNodeSettings() {
         return nodeSettings;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if index level setting for leaf reverse order search optimization is enabled
+     */
+    public boolean getSearchSegmentOrderReversed() {
+        return this.searchSegmentOrderReversed;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Updates the settings and index metadata and notifies all registered settings consumers with the new settings iff at least one
      * setting has changed.
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
index fe003405fd3f8..338a541af387a 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.lucene.analysis.Analyzer;
 import org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.LeafReader;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MergePolicy;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.QueryCache;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.QueryCachingPolicy;
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.indices.breaker.CircuitBreakerService;
 import org.opensearch.threadpool.ThreadPool;
 
+import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.function.BooleanSupplier;
@@ -102,6 +104,7 @@ public final class EngineConfig {
     private final Supplier<RetentionLeases> retentionLeasesSupplier;
     private final boolean isReadOnlyReplica;
     private final BooleanSupplier primaryModeSupplier;
+    private final Comparator<LeafReader> leafSorter;
 
     /**
      * A supplier of the outstanding retention leases. This is used during merged operations to determine which operations that have been
@@ -204,6 +207,7 @@ private EngineConfig(Builder builder) {
         this.isReadOnlyReplica = builder.isReadOnlyReplica;
         this.primaryModeSupplier = builder.primaryModeSupplier;
         this.translogFactory = builder.translogFactory;
+        this.leafSorter = builder.leafSorter;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -451,6 +455,15 @@ public TranslogDeletionPolicyFactory getCustomTranslogDeletionPolicyFactory() {
         return translogDeletionPolicyFactory;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns subReaderSorter for org.apache.lucene.index.BaseCompositeReader.
+     * This gets used in lucene IndexReader and decides order of segment read.
+     * @return comparator
+     */
+    public Comparator<LeafReader> getLeafSorter() {
+        return this.leafSorter;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Builder for EngineConfig class
      *
@@ -483,6 +496,7 @@ public static class Builder {
         private boolean isReadOnlyReplica;
         private BooleanSupplier primaryModeSupplier;
         private TranslogFactory translogFactory = new InternalTranslogFactory();
+        Comparator<LeafReader> leafSorter;
 
         public Builder shardId(ShardId shardId) {
             this.shardId = shardId;
@@ -614,6 +628,11 @@ public Builder translogFactory(TranslogFactory translogFactory) {
             return this;
         }
 
+        public Builder leafSorter(Comparator<LeafReader> leafSorter) {
+            this.leafSorter = leafSorter;
+            return this;
+        }
+
         public EngineConfig build() {
             return new EngineConfig(this);
         }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactory.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactory.java
index f5a5d50e11220..76b13ee244a2c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactory.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactory.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.lucene.analysis.Analyzer;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.LeafReader;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MergePolicy;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.QueryCache;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.QueryCachingPolicy;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@
 
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Comparator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.function.BooleanSupplier;
@@ -151,7 +153,8 @@ public EngineConfig newEngineConfig(
         EngineConfig.TombstoneDocSupplier tombstoneDocSupplier,
         boolean isReadOnlyReplica,
         BooleanSupplier primaryModeSupplier,
-        TranslogFactory translogFactory
+        TranslogFactory translogFactory,
+        Comparator<LeafReader> leafSorter
     ) {
         CodecService codecServiceToUse = codecService;
         if (codecService == null && this.codecServiceFactory != null) {
@@ -184,6 +187,7 @@ public EngineConfig newEngineConfig(
             .readOnlyReplica(isReadOnlyReplica)
             .primaryModeSupplier(primaryModeSupplier)
             .translogFactory(translogFactory)
+            .leafSorter(leafSorter)
             .build();
     }
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
index 63afc6585a99d..b96bade177be2 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/InternalEngine.java
@@ -2322,6 +2322,9 @@ private IndexWriterConfig getIndexWriterConfig() {
         if (config().getIndexSort() != null) {
             iwc.setIndexSort(config().getIndexSort());
         }
+        if (config().getLeafSorter() != null) {
+            iwc.setLeafSorter(config().getLeafSorter()); // The default segment search order
+        }
         return iwc;
     }
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/mapper/MappingLookup.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/mapper/MappingLookup.java
index 5bccb4f6e827e..024f4b71584bf 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/mapper/MappingLookup.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/mapper/MappingLookup.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 package org.opensearch.index.mapper;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.analysis.Analyzer;
+import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.DataStream;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.opensearch.index.analysis.FieldNameAnalyzer;
 
@@ -261,6 +262,15 @@ public String getNestedScope(String path) {
         return null;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * If this index contains @timestamp field with Date type, it will return true
+     * @return true or false based on above condition
+     */
+    public boolean containsTimeStampField() {
+        MappedFieldType timeSeriesFieldType = this.fieldTypeLookup.get(DataStream.TIMESERIES_FIELDNAME);
+        return timeSeriesFieldType != null && timeSeriesFieldType instanceof DateFieldMapper.DateFieldType; // has to be Date field type
+    }
+
     private static String parentObject(String field) {
         int lastDot = field.lastIndexOf('.');
         if (lastDot == -1) {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
index fc236d7d97a04..c0e7a8278e821 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/shard/IndexShard.java
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
 import org.apache.lucene.store.IndexInput;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.ThreadInterruptedException;
 import org.opensearch.common.lucene.store.ByteArrayIndexInput;
+import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.DataStream;
 import org.opensearch.core.Assertions;
 import org.opensearch.ExceptionsHelper;
 import org.opensearch.OpenSearchException;
@@ -333,6 +334,7 @@ Runnable getGlobalCheckpointSyncer() {
     private volatile boolean useRetentionLeasesInPeerRecovery;
     private final Store remoteStore;
     private final BiFunction<IndexSettings, ShardRouting, TranslogFactory> translogFactorySupplier;
+    private final boolean isTimeSeriesIndex;
     private final RemoteRefreshSegmentPressureService remoteRefreshSegmentPressureService;
 
     public IndexShard(
@@ -451,6 +453,9 @@ public boolean shouldCache(Query query) {
         this.checkpointPublisher = checkpointPublisher;
         this.remoteStore = remoteStore;
         this.translogFactorySupplier = translogFactorySupplier;
+        this.isTimeSeriesIndex = (mapperService == null || mapperService.documentMapper() == null)
+            ? false
+            : mapperService.documentMapper().mappers().containsTimeStampField();
         this.remoteRefreshSegmentPressureService = remoteRefreshSegmentPressureService;
     }
 
@@ -3627,7 +3632,8 @@ private EngineConfig newEngineConfig(LongSupplier globalCheckpointSupplier) thro
             tombstoneDocSupplier(),
             isReadOnlyReplica,
             replicationTracker::isPrimaryMode,
-            translogFactorySupplier.apply(indexSettings, shardRouting)
+            translogFactorySupplier.apply(indexSettings, shardRouting),
+            isTimeSeriesIndex ? DataStream.TIMESERIES_LEAF_SORTER : null // DESC @timestamp default order for timeseries
         );
     }
 
@@ -4670,4 +4676,12 @@ RetentionLeaseSyncer getRetentionLeaseSyncer() {
     public GatedCloseable<SegmentInfos> getSegmentInfosSnapshot() {
         return getEngine().getSegmentInfosSnapshot();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * If index is time series (if it contains @timestamp field)
+     * @return true or false based on above condition
+     */
+    public boolean isTimeSeriesIndex() {
+        return this.isTimeSeriesIndex;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/internal/ContextIndexSearcher.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/internal/ContextIndexSearcher.java
index cf21712fc912a..1a84aba5fff7d 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/internal/ContextIndexSearcher.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/internal/ContextIndexSearcher.java
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.search.query.QuerySearchResult;
 import org.opensearch.search.sort.FieldSortBuilder;
 import org.opensearch.search.sort.MinAndMax;
+import org.opensearch.search.sort.SortOrder;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -282,8 +283,17 @@ public void search(
 
     @Override
     protected void search(List<LeafReaderContext> leaves, Weight weight, Collector collector) throws IOException {
-        for (LeafReaderContext ctx : leaves) { // search each subreader
-            searchLeaf(ctx, weight, collector);
+        if (shouldReverseLeafReaderContexts()) {
+            // reverse the segment search order if this flag is true.
+            // Certain queries can benefit if we reverse the segment read order,
+            // for example time series based queries if searched for desc sort order.
+            for (int i = leaves.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+                searchLeaf(leaves.get(i), weight, collector);
+            }
+        } else {
+            for (int i = 0; i < leaves.size(); i++) {
+                searchLeaf(leaves.get(i), weight, collector);
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -496,4 +506,22 @@ private boolean canMatchSearchAfter(LeafReaderContext ctx) throws IOException {
         }
         return true;
     }
+
+    private boolean shouldReverseLeafReaderContexts() {
+        // Time series based workload by default traverses segments in desc order i.e. latest to the oldest order.
+        // This is actually beneficial for search queries to start search on latest segments first for time series workload.
+        // That can slow down ASC order queries on timestamp workload. So to avoid that slowdown, we will reverse leaf
+        // reader order here.
+        if (searchContext != null && searchContext.indexShard().isTimeSeriesIndex()) {
+            // Only reverse order for asc order sort queries
+            if (searchContext.request() != null
+                && searchContext.request().source() != null
+                && searchContext.request().source().sorts() != null
+                && searchContext.request().source().sorts().size() > 0
+                && searchContext.request().source().sorts().get(0).order() == SortOrder.ASC) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactoryTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactoryTests.java
index 2db3cd24da80d..f8bedc76ea994 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactoryTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfigFactoryTests.java
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ public void testCreateEngineConfigFromFactory() {
             null,
             false,
             () -> Boolean.TRUE,
-            new InternalTranslogFactory()
+            new InternalTranslogFactory(),
+            null
         );
 
         assertNotNull(config.getCodec());
@@ -148,7 +149,8 @@ public void testCreateCodecServiceFromFactory() {
             null,
             false,
             () -> Boolean.TRUE,
-            new InternalTranslogFactory()
+            new InternalTranslogFactory(),
+            null
         );
         assertNotNull(config.getCodec());
     }
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
index 06f74a55be13d..4474aae1f0631 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
@@ -761,6 +761,7 @@ public Settings indexSettings() {
                 ).getStringRep()
             );
         }
+
         return builder.build();
     }