2. Occupations.
No less than 37 per cent of the total number of Muhammadans live in towns, though the general proportion of urban population in the Provinces is only 7½ per cent. The number of Muhammadans in Government service excluding the police and army, is quite disproportionate to their small numerical strength in the Provinces, being 20 per cent of all persons employed. In the garrison they actually outnumber Hindus, while in the police they form 37 per cent of the whole force. In the medical and teaching professions also the number of Muhammadans is comparatively large, while of persons of independent means a proportion of 29 per cent are of this religion. Of persons employed in domestic services nearly 14 per cent of the total are Muhammadans, and of beggars, vagrants and prostitutes 23 per cent. Muhammadans are largely engaged in making and selling clothes, outnumbering the Hindus in this trade; they consist of two entirely different classes, the Muhammadan tailors who work for hire, and the Bohra and Khoja shopkeepers who sell all kinds of cloth; but both live in towns. Of dealers in timber and furniture 36 per cent are Muhammadans, and they also engage in all branches of the retail trade in provisions. The occupations of the lower-class Muhammadans are the manufacture of glass bangles and slippers and the dyeing of cloth.[1]