https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Growth_of_Muslim_Population_in_Medieval_IndiaGrowth of Muslim Population in Medieval India - Revision history2026-07-31T17:35:46ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Growth_of_Muslim_Population_in_Medieval_India&diff=164803&oldid=previmported>Onel5969 at 12:12, 16 July 20212021-07-16T12:12:29Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Book by K. S. Lal}}<br />
{{Italic title}}<br />
{{refimprove|date=March 2014}}<br />
'''''Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India''' (1000-1800)'' is a book written by [[K. S. Lal]] published in 1973.<br />
<br />
The book assesses the demographics of India between 1000 CE and 1500 CE. On the basis of the available historical evidence, K.S. Lal concluded that the population of [[Indian subcontinent]] in 1000 was about 200 million and in 1500 was about 170 million. He says, however, that "any study of the population of the pre-census times can be based only on estimates, and estimates by their very nature tend to be tentative."<br />
<br />
Lal estimates that about 60 to 80 million people died in India between 1000 and 1525 as a result of the [[Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent|Islamic invasion of Indian subcontinent]]. He concluded that about 2 million people died during [[Mahmud of Ghazni]]'s invasions of India alone.<ref>(pp.&nbsp;211–217)</ref><br />
<br />
==Reviews==<br />
<br />
Stephen Neill in his book ''A History of Christianity in India'', regarded the statistics and material to be "Important sidelights".<ref>A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707, Cambridge University Press, page 528, Stephen Neill</ref> Historian [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]] in his book ''Contesting History: Narratives of Public History'' (2014), remarked these writings to be "recent good works".<ref>Contesting History: Narratives of Public History, page. 183, A&C Black, 13-Mar-2014</ref><br />
<br />
Simon Digby disputed Lal's study of the demographic situation in medieval India in a review in ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', Digby stated that estimate lacks accurate data in pre-[[census]] times.<ref name="Digby1975">{{cite journal |last=Digby |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Digby (oriental scholar) |year=1975 |title=Reviews: K. S. Lal: ''Growth of Muslim population in medieval India (A.D. 1000-1800)'' |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3802960&fulltextType=BR&fileId=S0041977X0004739X |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=176–177 |jstor=614231}}</ref> Marxist historian [[Irfan Habib]] criticized the book in 1978 in ''[[The Indian Historical Review]]''. He described Lal's starting population figure as "a figment of the imagination of one scholar resting on nothing more tangible than the imagination of another", and faulted Lal for unexplained or faulty assumptions in his other population estimates.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Habib |first=Irfan |author-link=Irfan Habib |date=January 1978 |title=Economic History of the Delhi Sultanate - An Essay in Interpretation |journal=The Indian Historical Review |volume=IV |issue=2 |pages=287–303}}</ref> K. S. Lal wrote a reply to Irfan Habib's criticism in 1979 in his book ''Bias in Indian Historiography'' (1979) and ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India'' (1999).<br />
<br />
[[Koenraad Elst]], a Hindutva sympathizer, referred to Lal's statistics in his book ''[[Negationism in India]]'', remarking that "More research is needed before we can settle for a quantitatively accurate evaluation of Muslim rule in India, but at least we know for sure that the term [[crimes against humanity|crime against humanity]] is not exaggerated."<ref>{{cite web|last=Elst|first=Koenraad|title=CHAPTER TWO - NEGATIONISM IN INDIA|url=http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/negaind/ch2.htm|publisher=Koenraad Elst|accessdate=26 January 2014}}</ref><br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
* [[Demographics of India]]<br />
* [[Census of India]]<br />
* [[Muslim population growth]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
* K. S. Lal. (1979) "Bias in Indian Historiography" (edited by Dr. Devahuti)<br />
* K. S. Lal. 1999. ''Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India''<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Growth Of Muslim Population In Medieval India}}<br />
[[Category:1973 non-fiction books]]<br />
[[Category:History books about India]]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{islam-book-stub}}</div>imported>Onel5969