Editing Demographics of India (section)

===Population of India Over Time===

India's population has changed significantly due to migrations, technological advancements, and societal developments. Below is a table of historical population estimates:  

'''Estimated Population of India (10,000 BC – 2011)'''
{| class="wikitable" style="line-height:15px; text-align:center;"
|+ Historical Population of India (10,000 BC – 2011)
|-
! Era !! Year !! Estimated Population !! Growth Rate (%)
|-
| rowspan=2 | Prehistoric || 10,000 BC || 1,023,542 || N/A
|-
| 5000 BC  || 5,231,678 || +411.2%
|-
| rowspan=2 | Neolithic || 4000 BC || 7,003,245 || +33.9%
|-
| 3000 BC || 9,875,620 || +41.0%
|-
| rowspan=2 | Indus Valley Civilization || 2000 BC || 13,642,189 || +38.2%
|-
| 1500 BC || 15,246,830 || +11.8%
|-
| rowspan=2 | Vedic Period || 1000 BC || 16,895,450 || +10.8%
|-
| 500 BC || 22,783,692 || +34.9%
|-
| rowspan=2 | Maurya Empire || 250 BC || 40,684,927 || +78.6%
|-
| 1 AD || 51,287,345 || +26.1%
|-
| rowspan=5 | Classical India || 100 AD || 52,748,932 || +2.8%
|-
| 200 AD || 54,902,817 || +4.1%
|-
| 300 AD || 57,654,213 || +5.0%
|-
| 400 AD  || 60,834,921 || +5.5%
|-
| 500 AD || 64,291,782 || +5.7%
|-
| rowspan=5 | Early Medieval India || 600 AD || 68,102,304 || +5.9%
|-
| 700 AD || 71,837,610 || +5.5%
|-
| 800 AD || 75,983,210 || +5.8%
|-
| 900 AD || 81,274,936 || +7.0%
|-
| 1000 AD || 86,732,843 || +6.7%
|-
| rowspan=4 | Delhi Sultanate || 1100 AD || 91,403,287 || +5.4%
|-
| 1200 AD || 96,289,634 || +5.4%
|-
| 1300 AD || 101,984,726 || +5.9%
|-
| 1400 AD || 111,209,832 || +9.1%
|-
| rowspan=4 | Mughal Empire || 1500 AD || 121,847,294 || +9.6%
|-
| 1600 AD || 136,204,781 || +11.8%
|-
| 1700 AD || 161,874,263 || +18.9%
|-
| 1800 AD || 186,432,976 || +15.2%
|-
| rowspan=5 | Colonial Period || 1810 || 190,000,000 || +2.1%
|-
| 1820 || 195,000,000 || +2.6%
|-
| 1830 || 200,000,000 || +2.6%
|-
| 1840 || 205,000,000 || +2.5%
|-
| 1850 || 210,000,000 || +2.4%
|-
| rowspan=9 | British Raj || 1860 || 215,000,000 || +2.4%
|-
| 1870 || 220,000,000 || +2.3%
|-
| 1881 || 253,891,821 || +15.4%
|-
| 1891 || 287,223,431 || +13.1%
|-
| 1901 || 317,318,032 || +10.5%
|-
| 1911 || 317,369,222 || +0.02%
|-
| 1921 || 318,866,673 || +0.46%
|-
| 1931 || 337,515,000 || +5.8%
|-
| 1941 || 389,000,000 || +15.3%
|-
| rowspan=7 | Post-independence India || 1951 || 361,088,000 || -7.18%
|-
| 1961 || 439,235,000 || +21.7%
|-
| 1971 || 548,159,652 || +24.8%
|-
| 1981 || 683,329,097 || +24.7%
|-
| 1991 || 846,387,888 || +24.0%
|-
| 2001 || 1,028,610,328 || +21.5%
|-
| 2011 || 1,210,854,977 || +17.7%
|}

The population grew from the [[South Asian Stone Age]] in 10,000 BC to the [[Maurya Empire]] in 200 BC at a steadily increasing growth rate,<ref name="mcevedy184">{{cite book |author1=Colin McEvedy |url=http://www.arabgeographers.net/up/uploads/14299936761.pdf#page=92 |title=Atlas of World Population History |author2=Richard Jones |date=1978 |publisher=[[Facts on File]] |location=New York |pages=184–185 |author-link1=Colin McEvedy}}</ref> before population growth slowed down in the [[Classical India|classical era]] up to 500 AD, and then became largely stagnant during the [[Middle kingdoms of India|early medieval era]] era up to 1000 AD.<ref name="maddison"/><ref name="maddison236"/> The population growth rate then increased in the [[Medieval India|late medieval era]] (during the [[Delhi Sultanate]]) from 1000 to 1500.<ref name="maddison"/><ref name="maddison236"/>

Under the [[Mughal Empire]], India experienced a high economic and demographic upsurge,<ref name="mcevedy184" /> due to Mughal [[agrarian reform]]s that intensified agricultural production.<ref name="richards">[[John F. Richards]] (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA190 ''The Mughal Empire'', page 190], [[Cambridge University Press]]</ref> 15% of the population lived in urban centres, higher than the percentage of the population in 19th-century [[British India]]<ref name="eraly">[[Abraham Eraly]] (2007), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zpa8gyGW_twC&pg=PA5 ''The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age'', page 5], [[Penguin Books]]</ref> and contemporary Europe<ref name="eraly"/> up until the 19th century.<ref name="Malanima">{{cite book|title=Pre-Modern European Economy: One Thousand Years (10th–19th Centuries)|author=Paolo Malanima|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2009|page=244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1Ej4VEPwSgC&pg=PA244|isbn=978-9004178229|author-link=Paolo Malanima}}</ref> These estimates by [[Abraham Eraly]]<ref name="eraly"/> and [[Paolo Malanima]]<ref name="Malanima"/> have been criticised by [[Tim Dyson]], who considers them exaggerations and estimates urbanisation of the Mughal Empire to be less than 9% of the population.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tim|first=Dyson|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day.|year=2018|pages=63–65}}</ref>

Under the reign of [[Akbar]] (reigned 1556–1605) in 1600, the Mughal Empire's urban population was up to 17 million people, larger than the urban population in Europe.<ref name="habib170">{{cite book |author=[[Irfan Habib]] |author2=[[Dharma Kumar]] |author3=[[Tapan Raychaudhuri]]|title=The Cambridge Economic History of India|volume=1|page=170|year=1987|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|url=http://www.hkrdb.kar.nic.in/documents/Downloads/Good%20Reads/The%20Cambridge%20Economic%20History%20of%20India,%20Volume%201.pdf#page=186}}</ref> By 1700, Mughal India had an urban population of 23 million people, larger than British India's urban population of 22.3 million in 1871.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Broadberry|first1=Stephen|last2=Gupta|first2=Bishnupriya|title=Indian GDP before 1870: Some preliminary estimates and a comparison with Britain|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/sbroadberry/wp/indiangdppre1870v4.pdf#page=23|page=23|publisher=[[Warwick University]]|year=2010|access-date=12 October 2015}}</ref> [[Nizamuddin Ahmad]] (1551–1621) reported that, under Akbar's reign, Mughal India had 120 large cities and 3,200 townships.<ref name="eraly" /> A number of cities in India had a population between a quarter-million and half-million people,<ref name="eraly" /> with larger cities including [[Agra]] (in [[Agra Subah]]) with up to 800,000 people<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Irfan Habib]] |author2=[[Dharma Kumar]] |author3=[[Tapan Raychaudhuri]]|title=The Cambridge Economic History of India|volume=1|page=171|year=1987|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|url=http://www.hkrdb.kar.nic.in/documents/Downloads/Good%20Reads/The%20Cambridge%20Economic%20History%20of%20India,%20Volume%201.pdf#page=187}}</ref> and [[Dhaka]] (in [[Bengal Subah]]) with over 1 million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pKIlAQAAMAAJ|title=Social Science Review|date=24 July 1997|publisher=Registrar, Dhaka University|via=Google Books}}</ref> Mughal India also had a large number of villages, with 455,698 villages by the time of [[Aurangzeb]] (reigned 1658–1707).<ref name="habib170" />