Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c25.2

c25.2

Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India seventeen times. These invasions have been discussed in detail by Professor Mohammad Habib,¹ Dr. M. Nazim,² Sir Wolseley Haig,³ and Sir Henry Elliot.⁴ We are here concerned only with the loss to the Indian population, that is, the loss of numbers in killed or carried away as captives out of the country in the course of these invasions, and with no other details or controversies. The figures in the following resume of the invasions have, therefore, been taken from Elliot and Dowson's work in which Elliot has sifted all available evidence and has given figures provided by contemporary and later chroniclers. The figures given by Utbi have been collected from Elliot as well as Reynold's translation of the *Kitab-i-Yamini*.⁵ Original sources and authorities which provide the data have also been cited.