Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c6.s1.58

c6.s1.58

Many local officers also issued similar orders in their assignments.⁴⁰ But all these regulations could not have been strictly enforced. The paintings of the Mughal period as well as those of the Rajput and Pahari *qalam* clearly point to similar dresses for the Hindu and Muslim elite. Manucci says that many Rajputs wore gold armlets, "so that, if killed, those finding the body may see to its cremation." Otherwise, except that the Rajputs usually shaved, all put on a 'cabaya' (qaba) and more or less looked alike.⁴² Of course, the Indians themselves could not have mistaken a Hindu for a Muslim and *vice versa*. But it would have been difficult for a foreigner to distinguish between the two unless his stay in the country was of long duration and his curiosity and interest very keen. But, as we shall see later on, even keen observers like Pires and Bernier make mistakes in estimating the proportion of Muslim numbers. Sartorial patterns are determined more by court etiquette, current fashions, and climatic conditions, than by mere religious affiliations, and the mistake of the Europeans was unconscious. But in many cases, and because of this difficulty, the accounts of these foreigners are not quite helpful in fixing the ratio between the Hindus and Muslims in the population of Medieval India.