Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c16.19

c16.19

The Mongols, who had sent central and west Asian refugees fleeing into India, themselves occasionally arrived as invaders and stayed on in the country. Some also came, as in 1244, from the eastern passes of Tibet into Bengal.¹⁴ A large number of Mongols who had arrived with large armies and sought service under Balban entered into relationships with Muslim nobles.¹⁵ In 1291, the Mongol invader Alghu "with 4,000 Mongols and their families", made India his home.¹⁶ The colony of these neo-Muslims came to be called Mughalpura. Under Alauddin Khalji also many Mongol captives embraced Islam and settled down in India. According to Ziyauddin Barani, many needy persons from Khurasan, Iraq, Mawaraun Nahr, Khwarizm, Sistan, Herat, and Damascus came to Hindustan to receive bounty from Muhammad Tughlaq.¹⁷ Ibn Battuta says that no new comer from Khurasan was allowed to enter into Indian territory unless he came with the express intent of staying in Hindustan. Battuta was himself required to write a bond to that effect.¹⁸ Under Muhammad bin Tughlaq especially, foreigners are said to have been preferred to Indian Muslims on important posts and their immigration encouraged.¹⁹ Foreign slaves, male and female, too arrived from countries as far off as China and Abyssinia.