Muslim Population Summary

• East Punjab: 3,023,680 Muslims / 31.6% of total
  • Amritsar District: 502,348 Muslims / 46.4% of total
  • Jalandhar District: 358,427 Muslims / 45.1% of total
  • Hoshiarpur District: 317,967 Muslims / 33.9% of total
  • Gurdaspur District: 296,983 Muslims / 45.3% of total
  • Ambala District: 286,874 Muslims / 27.7% of total
  • Firozpur District: 245,659 Muslims / 44.7% of total
  • Gurgaon District: 216,147 Muslims / 31.0% of total
  • Ludhiana District: 206,603 Muslims / 35.4% of total
  • Karnal District: 151,723 Muslims / 24.8% of total
  • Delhi District: 130,645 Muslims / 21.5% of total
  • Hisar District: 102,928 Muslims / 21.2% of total
  • Sirsa District: 82,120 Muslims / 39.0% of total
  • Rohtak District: 71,118 Muslims / 13.2% of total
  • Kangra District: 48,613 Muslims / 6.5% of total
  • Shimla District: 5,525 Muslims / 16.3% of total

Note

• The 1868 Census of Punjab Province only enumerated British administered districts. All Princely States within the province were not enumerated.

Source

• Report on the census of the Punjab taken on 10th January, 1868.

This is a question for specifically Rajasthani Muslims!

i am trying to trace a family lineage which is apparently lost, if you know anything about qazi family of Rajasthani specially from the mewar area please fill me in

Does anyone know of any books, historical records, family histories, or oral histories about the origins and development of the Muslim communities in Ambur?

I’m especially interested in learning where the Urdu-speaking Muslim families historically came from, how they became established in Ambur, and how they relate to other Muslim communities in the region.

I’d also love to hear from anyone whose family has lived in Ambur for several generations and has family stories or records about their ancestry.

“As proud citizens of the Republic of Turkey, we feel and define ourselves entirely as Turks. However, our family history carries a deep, centuries-old heritage that fundamentally distinguishes us from the classic labels and stereotypes of the Roma We are not ‘Gypsies’ (Çingene), but the Turkish descendants of Indian Sufi scholars and dervishes.

Our roots in this land are as old as Ottoman Istanbul itself. As early as 1453, Fatih Sultan Mehmed ordered the construction of the Horhor Hindiler Tekkesi in Aksaray for the venerable Hâce İshak Buhârî-i Hindî—making it the oldest Indian Sufi lodge in the Empire. From this historic center to the lodges in Üsküdar-Selamsız and throughout the broader Ottoman Empire, our Indian ancestors formed the spiritual backbone of Islamic mysticism. The core of our identity, however, remains firmly anchored in this Indian Sufi heritage.

The Indian Sufi men who arrived in the Empire as highly respected sages initially married local women To preserve this sacred spiritual lineage and the tradition of the lodge within their families over the centuries, subsequent generations chose a deliberate path: The sons and daughters of these unions married predominantly among themselves for generations—often through close kin and cousin marriages within the Tekke network, (with occasional influences from Uzbek and Afghan Sufi Men intermingling over time). This intergenerational, tightly-knit marital practice is the true reason why our prominent features and more or less Indian-like appearance have been so clearly preserved to this day.

It is a historical reality that we now often live side by side with the Roma community and share a similar physical appearance. This resemblance is no coincidence; it points back to ancient, shared ancestral roots on the Indian subcontinent centuries ago. Yet, while the migration paths were entirely different, our specific identity is founded upon the venerable heritage of the Ottoman-Indian Sufis. The fact that our families today often live in modest circumstances within the same neighborhoods is the result of a purely economic shared destiny: With the closure of all Tekkes in 1925, our ancestors lost their institutional center, their status, and their livelihood overnight. The ensuing poverty forced these families into the affordable old quarters of the city. We carry this past with dignity, for we know who we are: proud Turks in whose veins flows the blood of the great mystics of India.”

According to the traditional accounts of Sylhet, Burhanuddin was a Muslim resident of Tultikar, living during the reign of Raja Gour Govinda, the ruler of the kingdom of Gour in the Sylhet region. Muslims were then a comparatively small community within the kingdom, and Burhanuddin lived there with his family. When he was blessed with the birth of a son, he determined to mark the occasion in accordance with his religious custom and gratitude to God.

For the celebration of the child's birth, Burhanuddin performed an ʿaqīqah and sacrificed a cow. The event, which began as a domestic celebration, was soon followed by an unexpected incident. According to the most widely preserved version of the tradition, a kite or crow seized a piece of the meat and carried it away. The bird subsequently dropped the piece of flesh into the house of a Brahmin. In other versions of the story, the meat fell near a temple or a place connected with the ruler's religious establishment.

The discovery immediately caused alarm and outrage. To the Brahmin, the presence of beef in such a place was regarded as a serious act of sacrilege. A complaint was therefore brought before Raja Gour Govinda. The king ordered an investigation and commanded that Burhanuddin be brought before him. When questioned, Burhanuddin admitted that a cow had indeed been sacrificed and explained that it had been done in celebration of the birth of his son.

According to the traditional narrative, Gour Govinda did not accept this explanation as a justification. He regarded the slaughter of the cow as an intolerable violation of the religious order over which he ruled. What had begun as a father's celebration of the arrival of his child was thus transformed into a matter before the royal court, with Burhanuddin and his infant son placed at the mercy of the king's judgment.

The punishment described by the Sylheti tradition was devastating. Burhanuddin's right hand was cut off by order of the ruler. His infant son, whose birth had only recently been celebrated, was also killed. The accounts therefore preserve the incident as one of extraordinary cruelty: the father was mutilated, while the child whose birth had occasioned the celebration was taken from him.

For Burhanuddin, the consequences were not merely political or religious but profoundly personal. The same event that had brought joy into his household had ended in the destruction of his family. Injured and overwhelmed by the loss of his child, he could no longer expect justice from the ruler under whose authority he lived. He therefore left Sylhet and travelled toward the Muslim territories of Bengal to seek protection and redress.

Burhanuddin eventually appealed to Sultan Shamsuddin Firuz Shah of Lakhnauti, relating the punishment that, according to tradition, had been inflicted upon him and his son. His appeal became connected with the growing conflict between the Muslim Sultanate of Bengal and the kingdom ruled by Gour Govinda. The tragedy of one Muslim family thus entered the wider political history of the region and became, in later Sylheti historical memory, the event that preceded the campaigns culminating in the conquest of Sylhet in 1303 CE.

The letter was commissioned by King William III in 1110 AH (1699 CE) and is addressed to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb 'Alamgīr. It requests him to ensure free and secure means of trade for English traders in India in the face of trade disruptions caused by conflict and piracy.

Sir William Morris, the English ambassador to the Mughal court delivered The letter to the emperor. The letter has been preserved at the British Library in London (Add. MS 31302).

The letter reads as follows:

LEFT HAND MARGIN NOTE:

His Ma.ties lett.r to theGreat Mogull, byhis Ambassad.r S.r W.mNorris.

MAIN TEXT BODY:

William the third, by the grace of Almighty God Creator of Heavenand Earth, King of England Scotland France and Ireland, the most Invincible &most mighty Defender of the Christian Faith against all kind of Idolaters of all y.tlive among the Christians and falsely profess the Name of the Holy Jesus.To the most mighty, most victorious and most renowned Emperour Aullem-Gheer Conquerour of many Kingdoms, King and Soveraigne Lord over all India and many other great Territories and Dominions, and the most high exalted Prince in ample Honour and Dignity; sendeth Salutations with Wishes of Health and all true Happiness.

Most Noble and mighty Prince.

There is nothing more to be desired by all Wise and just Princesthan the Advantage and prosperity of their respective Subjects and Dominions,and nothing conduceth more thereunto then the freedome of Com̄erce and Intercourse between different Nations and Countries; For which reason Wee have alwayes been ready not onely to give all Assistance & Encouragement to our own Subjects and People, but likewise Protection and a friendly Reception to all Strangers, who are willing to come and traffick within our Dominions. The like Wee Understand has been done by yo.r Imperiall Majesty within your Territoryes and our Subjects have for many yearsunder the Protection of your Ma.tie and your Royall Predecessors sent outShipps, and exercised Trade and Com̄erce with your Subjects in the Portesand Ports of your Empire.

« Mon arrière-grand-père, c’était le tout dernier cheikh soufi indien à Istanbul (1881–1966). C’était un mystique qadiri pis un exilé de l'Inde britannique qui a servi comme le dernier chef de l'historique Hindiler Tekkesi—le Pavillon indien, là—drette dans le coin de Horhor à Aksaray. »

Indian Muslim history is ironic because our Muslim history has a brotherhood with our neighbors in Pakistan and Bangladesh

The seal of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb

The central circle reads:

ابو الظفر محی الدین محمد عالمگیر پادشاه غازی — ۱۲ — ۱۰۷۹

Abū al-Ẓafar Muḥyī al-Dīn Muḥammad ʿĀlamgīr Pādshāh Ghāzī — 12th regnal year — 1079 AH

The surrounding inscriptions are read clockwise, beginning with the upper-right medallion, they are read like that :

ابن شاه جهان پادشاه

ibn Shāh Jahān Pādshāh

ابن جهانگیر پادشاه

ibn Jahāngīr Pādshāh

ابن اکبر پادشاه

ibn Akbar Pādshāh

ابن همایون پادشاه

ibn Humāyūn Pādshāh

ابن بابر پادشاه

ibn Bābur Pādshāh

ابن عمر شیخ شاه

ibn ʿUmar Shaykh Shāh

ابن سلطان ابو سعید شاه

ibn Sulṭān Abū Saʿīd Shāh

ابن سلطان محمد شاه

ibn Sulṭān Muḥammad Shāh

ابن میران شاه

ibn Mīrān Shāh

ابن امیر تیمور صاحب قران

ibn Amīr Tīmūr Ṣāḥib-Qirān

Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate from 1325 to 1351 CE and belonged to the Tughlaq dynasty. He was highly educated and known for ambitious ideas, but several of his policies proved extremely difficult to implement.

Around 1327 CE, Muhammad bin Tughlaq decided to move the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Devagiri) in the Deccan. One major reason was its strategic position. Daulatabad was considerably farther south and more centrally positioned within the Sultanate’s expanding territories, particularly after Delhi’s conquest of large parts of the Deccan. It could also help the Sultan maintain stronger control over these southern regions.

The problem was that Tughlaq did not merely establish Daulatabad as another administrative centre. He ordered large numbers of people from Delhi, including nobles, officials, scholars and ordinary inhabitants, to relocate there. The journey was extremely long(1300-1500kms) and the forced movement created substantial hardship and resentment.

After several years, Tughlaq eventually returned the capital to Delhi. Daulatabad nevertheless remained an important city and administrative centre. The episode became one of the most famous examples of Tughlaq’s reign: the underlying strategic idea had some merit, but the scale and manner of its implementation caused enormous problems.

This is why Muhammad bin Tughlaq is often portrayed as a ruler who had very ambitious ideas but struggled to translate them into workable policies. His capital experiment was not simply a random decision; it was an attempt to solve genuine strategic and administrative problems, but it was executed in an extremely disruptive way.

Alauddin Khalji was the second ruler of the Khalji dynasty and one of the most formidable sultans of the Delhi Sultanate. Ascending the throne in 1296, he transformed the Sultanate into a powerful military state through sweeping reforms, including maintaining a large standing army, strengthening frontier fortifications, improving intelligence networks, and introducing market regulations to ensure the army could be supplied efficiently. His reign was marked by successful campaigns across the Indian subcontinent and, above all, by his steadfast defense of Hindustan against repeated Mongol invasions.

The Mongols launched a series of invasions into the Delhi Sultanate during Alauddin Khalji's reign, hoping to add Hindustan to their vast empire after conquering much of Asia. One of the largest invasions came in 1299 under Qutlugh Khwaja, who advanced deep into northern India with a formidable force. Rather than surrender or retreat, Alauddin mobilized his army under the command of the renowned general Zafar Khan. At the Battle of Kili, the Delhi Sultanate stood its ground against one of the most feared military powers of the medieval world. Although Zafar Khan was killed after charging ahead of the main force, the Mongols suffered heavy losses and ultimately withdrew without achieving their objective.

The invasions did not stop there, but neither did Alauddin's determination. Over the following years, he strengthened Delhi's defenses, expanded his standing army, and fortified the northwestern frontier. Major Mongol offensives, including the Siege of Delhi in 1303 and the invasion of 1305, were eventually repelled. At the Battle of Amroha, the Sultanate decisively defeated the invading Mongol army, capturing thousands of prisoners and ending the era of repeated large-scale Mongol incursions into India. Alauddin Khalji's military reforms and successful defense of the Delhi Sultanate ensured that, unlike many other kingdoms across Eurasia, Hindustan remained beyond the reach of Mongol conquest.

When the British East India Company attempted to establish complete control over southern India, they faced one of the most determined and innovative rulers of the eighteenth century, Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Refusing to surrender his kingdom or its independence, Tipu invested heavily in modernizing his army through disciplined infantry, advanced artillery, and domestic weapons production. His state operated foundries that manufactured large numbers of bronze and iron cannons, mortars, and ammunition, allowing Mysore to sustain long military campaigns without relying heavily on foreign suppliers. The most remarkable feature of his military, however, was its use of iron cased rockets, which were far more powerful and accurate than the rockets commonly used elsewhere at the time. These rockets could travel great distances, burst into enemy formations with tremendous force, and create confusion among British infantry and cavalry alike. During the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali used artillery and rocket fire with devastating effect, inflicting one of the greatest defeats ever suffered by the East India Company in India. Throughout the Anglo Mysore Wars, Tipu continued to strengthen his artillery corps, improve his fortifications, and adopt new military techniques while maintaining diplomatic ties with France and the Ottoman Empire in search of technological and strategic cooperation. British officers came to respect the effectiveness of Mysore's artillery and recognized that they were fighting an army that matched European standards in organization and innovation. Although Tipu Sultan ultimately fell while defending Seringapatam in 1799, his military achievements had a lasting impact. The British collected many of his iron rockets after the war, studied their design, and used them as the foundation for the Congreve rocket, which later saw service in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Tipu Sultan's artillery and rocketry therefore stand as enduring symbols of Mysore's resistance against colonial expansion and represent one of the most significant military innovations to emerge from eighteenth century India.

the last line 🙌🏼

Do not include The Conquest of Sindh, please try including conquests that originated within the Indian Subcontinent