Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c12.122

c12.122

The demographic scene in medieval India betrays a constantly shifting pattern. The population is not static; it registers rise and fall by turns. If there are no statistics available on this perpetually changing picture, there is circumstantial evidence to explain it. In almost every case where decline or rise become observable, specific historical circumstances can be cited which may have produced the result. It would be well to remember that when we deal with the demography of India, we deal with the population study of a continent. A period of decline in one region may be of rise in another and *vice versa*, but such minute details can neither be ascertained with any amount of accuracy nor are they quite relevent to our study. For us an overall demographic picture would suffice; and this picture shows an interesting pattern—a zigzag curve of rise and fall—saving the country from over-population or extreme depopulation. Nevertheless, in spite of all vicissitudes, medieval India remained a country of large numbers.