Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c6.s1.2

c6.s1.2

Thus Al Masudi (writing about A.D. 941-42) says that there are 120,000 towns and villages in Sind.¹ Rashiduddin, in *Jami-ut-Tawarikh* (completed 1310) writes that "it is said that Guzerat comprises 80,000 flourishing cities, villages, and hamlets".² He also says that Sawalik (Haryana) contains 125,000 cities and villages, while Malwa had 1,893,000 villages and towns.³ al-Qalqashindi's *Subh-al-Asha* (completed 1411) says that the villages of Multan are 126,000.⁴ Similarly, Shihabuddin Ahmad also grossly exaggerates when he says that the Delhi (of Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq) contains "a thousand colleges.... In it there are about seventy hospitals... the chapels and hermitages amount to 2,000... The army consists of 900,000 horsemen... At the court there are 1,200 physicians, 10,000 falconers, 1,200 musicians...and 1,000 poets... In the royal kitchen the animals that were killed daily were 2,500 oxen, 2,000 sheep, without taking into account fatted horses and birds of all descriptions."⁵