History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c12.28

c12.28

In spite of the frequent warfare among the various kingdoms, no foreign conqueror had robbed the Deccan of its wealth which had been accumulated for centuries. A great many historians and travellers testify to the enormous wealth in the Deccan. Marco Polo describing the treasures of M'abar says, "When the king dies none of his children dares to touch his treasures. For they say: 'as our father did gather together all this treasure, so we ought to accumulate as much in our turn.' And in this way it comes to pass that there is an immensity of treasure accumulated in this kingdom."¹⁵ The Venetian traveller describes at length the jewellery the king wore about his person as well as the ways in which they used to obtain "very fine and great pearls" in M'abar. Nobody was permitted to take outside the kingdom pearls of high value. "This order has been given" says Marco Polo, "because the king desires to reserve all such for himself; and so in fact the quantity he has is something almost incredible."¹⁶ The fact that an enormous amount of wealth was squandered by the Pandya kings on endowments to temples and in securing horses of foreign breed is attested by contemporary inscriptions and writings of Vaṣṣāf and Polo.¹⁷ The latter further adds that the Pandya king "maintains great state and administers his kingdom with great equity, and extends great favour to merchants and foreigners, so that they are very glad to visit his city" (of Cail or Tinnevelley).¹⁸