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,[1] before population growth slowed down in the classical era up to 500 AD, and then became largely stagnant during the early medieval era up to 1000 AD.[2][3] The population growth rate then increased in the late medieval era (during the Delhi Sultanate) from 1000 to 1500.[20][22]