Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c11.107

c11.107

Kerala was very thickly populated. In fact the whole of the west coast up to Gujarat had a heavy density of population. Gujarat was full of people, so was more or less Malwa. Rajputana had known peace for the first time in many centuries, and its decimated population was now once again growing.⁷⁷ Sind countryside South of Multan was sparsely populated, but Punjab, whose numbers had suffered a fall during the fifteenth century, was coming up once again. At the end of the sixteenth century, "the route from Agra to Lahore...lay through a dense population, and the same statement holds good from Lahore as far as Multan".."⁷⁸ From Delhi eastwards up to Bengal and Orissa, the country was well stocked. For the Gondwana region, lying west of Orissa and south of eastern U.P. , Ferishtah observes that the kingdom of Garrah (Garrha-Mandla—Gondwana) was well populated on the eve of Akbar's invasion (1564).⁷⁹ The kingdom, 300 miles in length and 100 miles in breadth and ruled by Rani Durgavati, was so flourishing that in this territory there were 70,000 towns and villages, all well inhabited.⁸⁰ South India and the Deccan had large populations, although they were torn by constant wars.