Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India
Encyclopedia
Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India (1000-1800) is a book by K.S. Lal published in 1973.

The book assesses the demographics of India between 1000 and 1500 AD. On the basis of the available historical evidence, K.S. Lal concluded that the population of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 in 1000 was about 200 million and in 1500 AD 170 million. He says however that "any study of the population of the precensus times can be based only on estimates, and estimates by their very nature tend to be tentative"

K.S. Lal estimates that about 60 to 80 million people died in India between 1000 and 1525 as a result of the Islamic invasion of India. He concluded that about 2 million people died during Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...

's invasions of India (pp. 211–217).

Criticism

K.S. Lal's study of the demographic situation in medieval India was also criticized. Simon Digby criticized the book in a review in "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies":
"The author is known for his detailed studies of the Khalji dynasty and of the fifteenth-century Delhi Sultanate. He is well versed in the sources of medieval North Indian history. In the present study he has assembled almost all the conceivably relevant data and for this reason it will remain of value as a compendium of references. Yet the unknown variables are so great and the quality of the data yielded by our sources so poor that almost any detailed general estimates of population based upon them must appear wilful, if not fantastic."


Historian Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib is an Indian Marxist historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...

 criticized the book in his "Economic History of the Delhi Sultanate - An Essay in Interpretation" (Habib 1978). K.S. Lal wrote a reply to Irfan Habib's criticism in 1979 (Lal 1979) and in 1999 (Lal 1999).

See also

  • Demographics of India
    Demographics of India
    The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...

  • Census of India
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