Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c20.s1.45

c20.s1.45

In the case of *darzis* or tailors, their employment chances lay more with the Muslim community. Muslims dressed elaborately,³⁰ and the sartorial habits of Arabs and Turks would point to even some tailors having come from abroad, and converted Hindu tailors joining their ranks. The requirements of the Sultan,³¹ the elite, and even the common Muslims would have needed the services of a whole tribe of tailors, who, passing the whole day in the palace workshops or catering to the needs of the patronizing Muslim society would have found it profitable and convenient to become Muslim. The interdependence of cotton-carders, weavers, (dhunia, julaha) and tailors would have induced the former to embrace Islam, and once some people of this class converted to Muhammadanism, others followed suit because of class affiliation and vocational compulsions. Cotton-carders, weavers, and tailors were there both in the urban and the rural areas; only in the urban they were more skilled and produced fine quality stuffs required by the Muslim nobility and elite, and conversions seem to have occurred mostly in the urban areas; and many village julahas have remained Hindu. A Hajjam does not enjoy a better status in Muslim society than a Nai in Hindu, but the Hajjam’s profession provided greater avenues of economic betterment in Muslim society: he did the work of circumcision and other minor surgical operations.