Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, A.D. 1000–1800 c8.18

c8.18

"The Buddhist literature indicates that between the 7th and 4th centuries B.C. the economy of nothern India was comparable to that of the later middle ages in Europe."⁹ Crafts and commerce were flourishing, and were highly organised. Money and credit were everyday instruments. The ordinary town seemed to embrace anywhere from 30 to 1,000 families, and approximately 20 cities existed in northern India alone. One tribal area, that of the Sakiyans, is supposed to have contained half a million people. Sea commerce extended to places as far away as Babylon.¹⁰ At the time of Alexander's invasion (327-26 B.C.), the population seems to have been really large. One small kingdom (of Glaucanica or Glausae) was said to have 37 towns of over 5,000 inhabitants each".¹¹ Later, India's first real empire under the sway of Chandragupta Maurya (c. 321-297 B. C.) left records indicating a standing army of approximately 700,000 men, the maintenance of which must have required a substantial population. His engagement with Selucus and defeat of Selucus shows how vast his resources and strong his army and administration were. The administrative set up of Patliputra alone indicates a large and thickly populated and urbanized capital. "Under Ashoka (c. 274-236 B.C.) this empire achieved one of the highest points of Indian civilization, based on efficient administration, the use of written commands, abundant commerce, extensive agriculture, and the use of metals.”[’^12]