Indian Muslims: Who Are They c8.s1.22

c8.s1.22

Such instances need not be multiplied, but some other cases not included in the above Table may also be mentioned in passing. Many elephant drivers (mahauts) are today Muslims. It is on record that Muslim rulers were extremely fond of elephants. Mahmud of Ghazni had an *elephant corps of 2,500 all collected from India*.³¹ Minhaj Siraj affirms that during Bakhtiyars Bengal campaign, many elephants were captured with their drivers.³² He also writes that Sultan Ruknuddin Firoz Shah (son of Iltutmish), was very fond of elephants, *and all the elephant drivers were much benefited by his bounty* (italics mine).³³ Ferishtah says that by the time of Bahram Shah (C.E. 1240), the sultans had monopolised the privilege of keeping elephants.³⁴ Being in the employment of Muslim rulers and nobles, living in the palace or Sultans forts all the time, and benefiting from their bounty, it was but profitable for them to convert to a faith in which advantages of service and profession lay. On the contrary those professional groups, which had a mixed Hindu-Muslim clientele, but whose business would have been adversely affected by losing the Hindu customers if they had converted to Islam, like the *panwaris* (betel sellers), *halwais* (sweetmeat sellers), *banias*, goldsmiths etc., did not convert and have remained Hindu through the ages.