Indian Muslims: Who Are They c7.22

c7.22

Invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali added to the loss in Muslim numbers. Disgruntled Muslim nobles and religious leaders used to implore foreign invaders to attack India. Babur was invited and so were Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. Such Indian Muslims had little consideration for the overall interests of the countrymen as a whole. These invaders killed more Hindus than Muslims; but of course Muslims were also killed in large numbers. The effects of Nadirs march through the Punjab, his massacre at Delhi which cost thousands of Muslim lives,⁶³ and Abdalis sack of the Punjab not less than eight times between 1748 and 1769,⁶⁴ on Indian and especially Muslim demography need not be stressed. Even Delhi, the imperial capital, could not recover from the shocks right up to the end of thecentury.⁶⁵