Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c5.s3.7

c5.s3.7

Among modern writers, W.H. Moreland must be given the credit of doing pioneering work in the field of medieval Indian demography. In the space of a few pages⁸ he scientifically sifted all the evidence within his reach to arrive at an estimate of Indian population in c. 1600. Some scholars have differed from him, some others have agreed with him, and many census Reports have cited his authority. Kingsley Davis wrote his monumental work⁹ thirty years after Moreland's when much more material was available. He has also attempted an estimate of the population of ancient and medieval times, thus helping in our study. The contribution of J.M. Datta to the study of medieval Indian demography too is laudable.¹⁰ Similarly, many historical monographs by modern scholars on medieval Indian history have been of great help. As an example only one such work may be mentioned. Professor Sri Ram Sharma's *Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors* gives facts and figures about conversions of Hindus to Islam under the Mughals, in particular under Shahjahan and Aurangzeb, helping in the assessment of the growth of Muslim population. After all, our main task has been to collect figures, data, statistics and well-established facts having a bearing on medieval Indian demography. These are sometimes readily available in these research monographs, and are more reliable too, having been cross-checked from a number of sources.