Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c17.s3: Bengal

Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c17.s3

Language: English

Bengal

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Most descriptions of Bengal given by European writers point to a mixed population. But "it is evident, from the numerical superiority in Eastern Bengal of the Muslims...that at some period an immense wave of proselytization must have swept over the country and it is most probable that that period was the period of Jalaluddin Muhammad [converted son of the Hindu Raja Ganesh] during whose reign of seventeen years (1414-1431) .....hosts of Hindus are said to have been forcibly converted to Islam." Other causes of large-scale conversions are said to be rivalry between Buddhism and Hinduism, the former joining hands with the Muslims,²³ excesses of the Brahmins in making *Hindus turn away from them*,²⁴ and the capture of Hindu places of worship which continued to be visited and revered by Hindus even after they had been turned into Dargahs presided over by a Shaikh in place of a Brahmin.²⁵ Muslim Sufi Shaikhs *also* converted people in large numbers by methods both of war²⁶ and of peace.²⁷ Usual mixed marriages²⁸ would have added to Muslim population. Employment prospects also helped in the rise of Muslim population, for says Barbosa: "It is obviously an advantage in the sixteenth century Bengal to be a Moor, inasmuch as the Hindus 'daily become Moors to gain the favour of their rulers.'"²⁹

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²⁰ *Ibid.*, p. 280.

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²² C.H.I., III, *op. cit.* (II, n. 25), p. 267.

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²³ R.C. Mitra, *The Decline of Buddhism in India* (Vishvabharati, 1954), pp. 78-79.

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²⁴ Abdul Karim, *Social History of the Muslims in Bengal*, *op. cit.* (X, n. 20), pp. 143-44.

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²⁵ *Ibid*, pp. 136-38.

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²⁶ *Ibid*, p. 125.

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²⁷ *Ibid.*, pp. 130-38.

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²⁸ *Ibid*, pp. 145-46.

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²⁹ Barbosa, *op. cit.* (VI, n. 17), II, p. 148. Also Castanheda, II, p. 441 cited in Lach, *op. cit.* (V, n. 24), I, p. 415.

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Foreign Muslims were there too in large numbers in Bengal. They migrated on several occasions and for various reasons. Some came in the wake of conquest, others as traders and businessmen.³⁰ Ruknuddin Barbak Shah (1460-74) was probably the first ruler who maintained a large number of Abyssinians as protectors of his throne. He recruited 8,000 Habshis and gave them key positions in his government. Aside from the Abyssinian eunuchs at the court, it was common for other eunuchs to act as harem guards.³¹ In addition to the Abyssinians, Bengal played host to other foreigners, especially merchants from Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and other parts of India. Many stayed on in Bengal because of its fertility, riches and cheap food.³² "Little is reported by European writers about the Hindu population of Bengal beyond remarks to the effect that their children are sometimes sold to be eunuchs, that many of them become converts to the Muslim faith, and that they constitute the majority of the population outside the port cities".³³ While European accounts of Gaur talk of a mixed population of Muslims, Hindus and foreigners (Moors), the *Manasa Vijaya* of Virpradasa (composed 1495) mentions large population of Muslims in Satgaon. It says, "The Muslim population of Saptagrama is innumerable; they belong to the Mughals, Pathans and Mokadims, Saiyyads, Mullas and Qazis……"³⁴ Obviously Bengal cities had a good number of Muslims in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Cites (1)

Manasāvijaya — Vipradās Piplāi, Bengali