Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c14.2

c14.2

The difficulties confronted in the demographic survey of medieval India are a little reduced while fixing the proportion of Muslims in the overall population of India between A.D. 1000 and 1800. Although no contemporary account exists to say how Islam spread in India, Muslim chroniclers very graphically describe the achievements of Muslim monarchs, provincial governors, rulers of independent Muslim kingdoms, and even officials, in effecting conversions. Muslim hagiological works, some reliable others not so reliable, too report on addition to Muslim population through conversions. But the actual numbers who embraced Islam year after year and decade after decade are not known. Some Muslims no doubt came from abroad as conquerors and soldiers. Some scholars and religious men also arrived either in the train of conquerors or at the invitation of Indian sultans or as refugees. Arabs, Abyssinians, Egyptians, Persians, Transoxionians and Afghans, all find mention as having come to India to seek refuge or fortune. But the majority of Muslims were converts from Hinduism. One has, therefore, to collect facts and figures contained in stray references of medieval writers, especially Persian chroniclers, from A.D. 1000 to 1800 to make a conversion cum immigration survey to be able to estimate the growth of Muslim population in medieval India.