South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c9.s2.22

c9.s2.22

Takiu-d-din Abdur Rahman, who is described as Wazir and Marzaban in Ma'bar and who died in A.D. 1303, was succeeded by his son Siraju-d-din and by his grandson Nizamu-d-din in succession in the same position as the principal farmers-general of the customs of the Pāṇḍyan coast. It must be remembered that these were Arabs by descent. The position of Wazir or Chief minister ascribed to these Arabs is not confirmed by any Indian evidence so far, though it is quite likely, from the important positions these occupied, that they exercised considerable influence in the councils of the Pāṇḍya rulers at the time. There is some confusion in Wassaf's account as copied by Rashidu-d-din, as he has introduced another Jamalu-d-din, his informant Shaik Jamalu-d-din. It is likely this was not the only family that was settled in official positions of importance in the courts. The probabilities are, on the contrary, that there were a larger number of these settlements in the various important ports of trade, and it is these that became the nuclei of various Muhammadan settlements of Arabic character in all the sea-port towns of this coast, as well as that of Malabar, giving rise to various communities of mixed descent. These had neither part nor lot with the Muhammadan invaders of the north who carried fire and sword through the country in the course of their first invasions of the south. These too stood on occasions to suffer quite as much as the other inhabitants of the country as we have an instance of such suffering on record in connection with Khusru Khan's invasion of this region.