South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c13.s1.25.5

c13.s1.25.5

That Kaṇṇanūr passed into the possession of the Muhammadans either during the invasion of Malik Kafur himself, or in the interval between that and this last battle is clear as the place which was the capital of Vīra Rāmanātha, and perhaps even his son, to the time of accession of Vīra Ballāḷa III, does not find mention in any of the records of this Vīra Ballāḷa. The change of capital to Tiruvaṇṇāmalai in A.D. 1328 as we know it, it might have been much earlier, finds an explanation in this that Kaṇṇanūr must have been lost to the Hoysalas before that period and must have become the base of active operations against the Hoysala territory in the Tamil country. It is as a counter-work to the Muhammadan position in Kaṇṇanūr which is on the trunk road leading from the north to Madura that Tiruvaṇṇāmalai must have been pitched upon as the capital of the Hoysalas. Tiruvaṇṇāmalai connects with the Hoysala capitals Kundāṇi and Dvārasamudra, on the one hand, and with Kaṇṇanur on the other, and is certainly well situated for preventing reinforcements reaching the Muhammadans from the north.