History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290–1320 c13.s2.2

c13.s2.2

The causes of the success of the royal army in the Deccan are not far to seek. The southern kingdoms of Devagiri, Telingana, Hoysala and the Pandya, like the Rajput states of the north, were constantly fighting against one another.⁴⁴ When ‘Alāūddīn had marched to Devagiri in 1296, Singhana Deva had gone towards the Hoysala frontiers with his forces; when Kāfūr marched against the Hoysala country, its king Ballāla Deva was absent in farther south trying to snatch a portion of the Pandya country; and the two princes Sundra Pandya and Vīra Pandya were constantly fighting with each other. Not only that, in place of uniting and helping one another in face of a foreign foe they assisted the invaders against their own neighbours. Thus Ram Chandra helped Mālik Kāfūr in the conquest of Telingana and Vīra Ballāla escorted the imperial army farther south in M'abar. Sundara Pandya even begged Malik Kāfūr’s assistance against his step-brother and proved to be a source of untold misery to his own countrymen.⁴⁵