South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c11.19

c11.19

The ruler had many troops and ships, and Musalmans and Hindus were in his service. He was possessed of a thousand elephants of Ma’bar and innumerable horses. When the Muhammadan army arrived, the Raja fled from Fatan, where the Musalmans in the service of the Hindu Raja sought the protection of the Muhammadans. Five hundred elephants are said to have been taken, and after destroying the idol, Malik Kafur returned to Delhi. Apparently this is a continuation of the campaign from the Chola into the Pāṇḍya country, and Fatan must be the Paṭṭaṇam, the one of the two or three Paṭṭaṇams in the vicinity of Rāmēśvaram, if not Rāmēśvaram itself, and the temple therein referred to, is almost certainly the great temple in Rāmēśvaram. From all that is before us, it would be safer to regard this as a continuation of the campaign, which, according to the previous account, terminated in Madura, and to extend it to Rāmēśvaram. But the clear mention of Fatan leaves no alternative but to accept the progress of the Muhammadan raid up to Rāmēśvaram. The ports near this contained, at that time, a comparatively large Muhammadan population which finds mention in this work of Amir Khusru.