Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c17.s6.17

c17.s6.17

One class of foreigners, the Africans, need special mention. Their dark skin made them a class apart; not being considered equal by the other fair-skinned foreigners. "To the negroes were added the *Muwallads*, a name applied to African fathers and Indian mothers."⁶² In politics they were partisans of the Deccanis, in status "low caste", in number very large. It would not be unsafe to assume that at the end of the fifteenth century foreigners in the Deccan were in the neighbourhood of a million.