Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c12.7

c12.7

Six years after the great plague came the great famine. "The Gangetic plain was not affected and Petermundy's account northwards from Gujarat shows that most of Malwa had escaped."³ But in 1630 it struck Gujarat, Sind, the Deccan, and the country extending across India to the east coast (Vijayanagar region).⁴ By November the weavers and other artisans had abandoned their houses in such large numbers that cargo for the English ships could not be procured.⁵ According to a report by the Portuguese Viceroy to his sovereign, three million inhabitants of Gujarat had died by October 1631, while a million perished in the country of Ahmadnagar.⁶ Abdul Hamid Lahori, referring to the famine which raged in Gujarat, Balaghat, Daulatabad and the Deccan, says that 'the numbers of the dying caused obstructions in the roads.'⁷ The ill-effects of this famine continued to be felt up to as late as 1639.