Indian Muslims: Who Are They c6.s7.13

c6.s7.13

In brief in eastern Bengal, Chandals and Pods and in northern Rajbansis and Koches predominated; the proportion of orthodox Hindus was very small. Pods, Chandals and Koches all have traces of Buddhist influence. Among Koches traces of Buddhist influence still survived when Ralph Fitch visited the country in the sixteenth century.⁸⁵ Muslim religion must have crumbled the defences of Chandals, Koches, Pods and other tribes and low classes on whom there was little Hindu influence. Thus it were the peculiar political, religious, but more especially social conditions of Bengal that exposed its people much more to Muslim proselytization. Had the common, poor, unsophisticated sections of the backward classes been left to themselves, they might have remained contented with their local forms of devotion and folk culture. But Muslim rulers, soldiers and Sufi Mashaikh left the high and the low hardly any choice in the matter. The lower classes of course were more vulnerable. However, the picture of proselytization in Bengal is not very clear and the problem is still open to study.