Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c16.s1.5

c16.s1.5

Ordinarily, captivity for a Rajput was out of the question: his sense of honour and the dire penishments with which he was visited in case of captivity,²⁷ excluded any attempt on his part to save his life by surrender. He either died on the field of battle or escaped. But in war civilians and non-combatants could easily be taken. Kafur Hazardinari from Gujarat or Hasan (Khusrau Khan) from Malwa would not have been captured alone. They rose into prominence and therefore the circumstances of their enslavement and conversion are known. Large numbers became Musalmans in this way. Muslim rulers were keen to obtain captives in war and convert them. During warfare it was still more easy to enslave women and children. It was almost a matter of policy with the Turkish rulers and their commanders, from the very start of Muslim rule, to capture and convert or disperse and destory the male population, and carry into slavery women and children. Ibn-ul Asir says that Qutbuddin Aibak made ‘war against the provinces of Hind......He killed many, and returned home with prisoners and booty.’²⁸ In Banaras, according to Ibn-ul Asir, Shihabuddin’s slaughter of the Hindus was immense, none was spared except women and children’’.²⁹ No wonder that slaves began to fill the household of every Turk from the very inception of Muslim rule in Hindustan. Fakhre Mudabbir informs us that as a result of the Turkish achievements under Muhammad Ghori and Qutbuddin Aibak, ‘even a poor householder (or soldier) who did not possess a single slave (before) became the owner of numerous slaves……’³⁰