We report the growth and characterization of InAlGaAs/InAlAs multiquantum wells (MQWs) emitting at $sim 1310$ -nm grown on silicon by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Compared with the same structure grown on a reference planar InP substrate, photoluminescence of the MQWs on Si shows both comparable line widths and internal quantum efficiencies at room temperature. A specially engineered InP buffer with interlayers on a nanopatterned silicon substrate was used. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals effective dislocation filtering by the three strained InGaAs interlayers. The high-quality quantum-well structure grown on the InP-on-Si template suggests great potential of integrating III–V photonic devices on the Si platform.