Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c23.27

c23.27

So far as Muslim population is concerned, its growth in medieval India was constant. While it was only about A.D. 1000 that Islam did really get introduced in India, the population of Muslims in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent was no less than 100 million around 1950.¹³ In the medieval times, India was under Muslim rule, or at least large portions of the country were controlled by a succession of Muslim dynasties. Political authority is always in a position of vantage to enlist supporters, and religions have spread in many places and at many times the world over through the interest and effort of the ruling power. But the picture of conversions which swelled Muslim numbers so quickly is too hazy to reconstruct. It is said that Hindu caste system, proselytizing activity of Sufi saints, contact with Muslim traders and merchants, job opportunities in Muslim civil and military establishments, resulted in 'group conversions' of Hindus. These are reasonable suppositions, although documentary evidence on these is little. The only reason of conversion repeatedly mentioned in medieval Persian chronicles is that Muslim conquerors and rulers converted men, women and children either by naked force or by putting upon them economic and other kinds of pressures. However, as M. Mujeeb points out "the risks involved in a policy of conversion by force should not be underrated."¹⁴ Be that as it may; one fact is patently clear. The vast majority of Muslims of India (and Pakistan) are converts from indigenous elements, and the 'two nation theory' has no historical basis.