The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c12.4

v1.c12.4

The city of Madura, which was the capital of the kingdom of the Pandyas several centuries before the Christian Era, had fallen into the hands of the Muhammadans in the beginning of the 14th century. In or about 1310, the Sultan of Delhi, Alau-d-din Khilji, sent an expedition to the South under the command of his Minister Malik Kafur, at the request of Sundara Pandya who had been driven from his kingdom by his rival half brother Vira Pandya¹. When Malik Kafur arrived at the city of Madura, he found it empty. Vira Pandya had abandoned it on hearing of the approach of the Muslim army². It seems however that Malik Kafur set out from Madura in pursuit, and at last succeeded in capturing Vira; for the *Pandyan Chronicle* and the *Supplementary MSS.* say that Paracrama-Pandyon-dever (Vira Pandya) was seized by the Muhammadans and sent to Delhi³. The Muhammadan historian says that after some months, Malik Kafur accompanied by his army returned to Delhi with all the plunder⁴. But we are sure that part of the military garrison remained in Madura; as the *Pandyan Chronicle* states that three years after the conquest of Malik Kafur, "all things were conducted in the Muhammadan manner; men were in dread of showing themselves to each other; all things were in strife and disorder". Subsequently several Muhammadan governors are mentioned⁵.