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Introduction
The demographic composition of its population based on religious affiliations is an important concern for any nation. In the most populous democracy in the world, India, this topic assumes an important dimension. Next to the Hindu majority, the second largest population group based on religious classification is the Muslim community of India. The present study focuses on the statistics related to the composition growth and distribution of the Muslim segment of the Indian population.
The study is based on the 1991 Census of India. India being the second most populous country in the world, the determinants and trends of population growth and distribution are of great significant to the country as a whole and to its largest minority, the Muslims of India.
According to the 1991 census of India, Muslims form 12.6% of the population of the country (Table 1). Since no census was held in Jammu and Kashmir, this figure has been reached by projecting the population of that state on the basis of the same rate of growth as during 1971-1981 decenial census, namely 30%, and roughly the same proportion of Muslims in its population, that is, 65%, as in 1981. The total and Muslim population of Jammu and Kashmir was thus estimated at 7,783,606 and 5,059,344, respectively. Adding then to the official census figures for the rest of the country, the total and Muslim population of the country thus came to 846,367,594 and 106,656,401, respectively. These figures form the basis for the following demographic analysis.
At the outset it may be noted that in the Indian census operations anyone who does not declare his religion as specifically otherwise is counted as Hindu. This is in accordance with the accepted negative definition of the term 'Hindu'.
In absolute terms the Muslim population of India in 1991 at 106.6 million was perhaps more than the Muslim population of Pakistan or of Bangladesh and second only to that of Indonesia. The Muslim Indians, therefore, constitute the second or the third largest national community of Muslims in the world.
If the total Muslim population of the world is estimated at about 1.2 billion, the Muslim Indians form roughly 10% of that total. However, not all Muslims of the world live in Muslim majority states. Muslim...