South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c13.s1.18

c13.s1.18

The Sultans of Madura subsequent to Ibn Batuta’s departure.—This series of transactions took place between the years A.D. 1342 when Ibn Batuta was despatched from Delhi on his mission to China, and A.D. 1344 when finally he embarked for China from the port of Fatan (Paṭṭaṇam). The last known inscriptional date for Ballāḷa III is 1342. He died about the end of that year,³ Ghiyathu-d-din following in the course of a few weeks. Ghiyathu-d-din was succeeded by his nephew Nasiru-d-din who is said to have been a domestic servant at Delhi wherefrom he fled to his uncle Ghiyathu-d-din, soon after he became king. He obtained the consent of the nobles and the army for his accession by a lavish distribution of gold. Ibn Batuta himself received three hundred pieces of gold and a robe of honour. One of Nasiru-d-din’s first acts was the killing of a son of his own paternal aunt because he happened to be the husband of Ghiyathu-d-din’s daughter. Having murdered the husband he married the widowed princess. It was in this reign that Ibn Batuta was provided with a number of ships to proceed on his journey. He embarked at Fatan (Paṭṭaṇam) again, paid a short visit to the Maldives and Honawar, and set forward from there on a voyage taking Bengal, Sumatra and Java on the way to China ultimately. The only extant coin of Nasiru-d-din is dated A.H. 745 which would correspond to A.D. 1344. Then follows a break in the coins till we come upon one of Adil Shah with date A.H. 757 corresponding to A.D. 1356-57. He was followed in A.H. 761 (A.D. 1359) by Fakru-d-din Mubarak Shah for whom we have a number of coins bearing dates from A.H. 761 to 770 (A.D. 1368). Then came the last of the Sultans, Allau-d-din Sikandar Shah whose coins bear dates A.H. 774-779 (A.D. 1372-77). This find of coins of the Sultans of Madura¹ so far available gives us the history of Madura under the Muhammadans, meagre as it is. But it is well supplemented by Ibn Batuta for the greater part of the period. The dates of these coins range from A.D. 1335 to A.D. 1377-78 with what seems a comparatively large gap from A.D. 1344-1357, almost corresponding to the period of active rule of the Bahmani Sultan Alau-d-din I. What this gap might mean will appear later. The power of the Muhammadans in Madura appears to have come definitely to an end about A.D. 1377-78, the last year of the Vijayanagar ruler Bukka.