Glimpses of Indian Historical Demography

Contents: Foreword. Acknowledgement. 1. Introduction. 2. Historical demography through literature: estimates of India\'s population circa 3000 B.C. 3. The Hindu population. 4. The Muslim (Moslem) population. 5. The Christian population of India. 6. The Sikhs. 7. The Jains. 8. Demography of Indian Buddhists. 9. The Jews in India. 10. The Parsis--a unique group are they facing extinction? 11. Summary and conclusion. Appendix. Bibliography. Glossary of demographic terms used in the monograph. Index.

"Historical demographic studies on India\'s population are a rare research enterprise in view of paucity of data. Unlike western populations that are almost wholly Christian with parish registers, India\'s teeming millions profess several religious faiths that have no parishes, or parish registers.

Censuses provide demographic data for doing India\'s demographic history. India has a history of a century of census taking from 1891 to 2001. The book presents a historical demographic analysis of the major religious groups in India. Wherever possible, the analysis has been supplemented with information from other sources. It is seen that India\'s population is undergoing a slow demographic modernization during the course of the 20th century. A few reasons have been advanced to explain the slowness of demographic change in India.

The book will be of great interest to researchers in historical population studies and social change in developing countries." (jacket)