ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the process of peasantisation of the Meos through analyses of historical evidence and their own oral traditions. It deals with the social, economic and cultural history of the Meos roughly from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. The chapter shows how the Meos were transformed into a peasantry with increasing orientation towards Islam. A sociological survey of the Meos shows that the process of their migration from hills to plains in Mewat continued up to the late medieval period. There are two beliefs prevalent among the Meos regarding their Islamisation. The first is that the Meos got converted to Islam under the influence of Salar Masud. The second one is that Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, who passed through Mewat in the course of his journey to Ajmer, had blessed the Meos to become Muslims.
