History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c13.s1.4

c13.s1.4

The army marched on, and on crossing the two passes Tarmali²¹ and Tabar (Toppur) they arrived in the city of Mardi, the inhabitants of which place were massacred. Then starting from the river Kanobari they advanced to Birdhul.²² At the approach of the Muslim army the Rai of the place, Vīra Pandya, fled towards Kandur (identified with Kannanur).²³ But he did not feel secure and fled even from there towards the jungles. Malik Kāfūr was all the time chasing the Rai wherever he went. About 20,000 Musalmans of south India, who had fought on the side of the Hindus, now deserted to the imperialists and were spared.²⁴ With the help of these people the army tried to know the whereabouts of the flying king, but severe rains compelled them to fall back upon Birdhūl. The chase of the fugitive, however, was not given up and the army restarted from Birdhūl in his pursuit. "Torrents of rain fell from above and the army passed through places completely covered with water." Intelligence was brought that the Rai had fled to the city of Kandūr. The imperial army dashed towards the town but Vīra Pāṇḍya had fled even from there. Malik Kāfūr laid hand upon 120 elephants on which he found some treasure also. In fact the real aim of Malik Kāfūr was to destroy his enemy Vīra Pāṇḍya than to help his friend Sundara. In vain, however, did he massacre the people of Kandūr for the Rai had long before fled from that place. It was thought that he had fled towards Jāl Kūta.²⁵ Malik Naib marched in that direction but thorny forests forbad any persistent pursuit, and he again returned to Kandūr where he searched for more elephants and treasure. Meanwhile they had learnt much about the temples and treasures of the places lying in the vicinity of Kandūr. They came to know that at Barmatpūrī (Brahmapurī)²⁶ there