A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c16.26

c16.26

Ballāla’s part in the establishment of Śāmbuvarāya power in the northern districts of Ma’bar involved him in continuous hostilities with the newly-established sultanate of Madura and this led very soon to the absorption of the Hoysala kingdom in the rising state of Vijayanagar. At Madura, Jalal-ud-din Hasan Shah fell by assassination (1340) after a rule of five years, and was succeeded by one of his *amirs*, Ala-ud-din Udauji, a warlike prince who planned an expedition against Ballāla. The Hoysala monarch stationed himself at Tiruvannamalai in 1340; Udauji’s invasion came in 1341; but in the hour of victory an arrow shot by an unknown hand struck him and he died at once. Ballāla converted defeat into victory, and for a time it looked like the end of the small Muslim state of Madura. The late sultan’s son-in-law was put on the throne by the nobles, but being found unsatisfactory he was murdered. The next ruler was Ghiyas-ud-din Damghani, a bloodthirsty monster not, however, devoid of ability. At the time of his accession, Ballāla was investing the strong fortress of Kannanūr-Koppam, after a decisive victory against the Muslim forces in the open field. The siege lasted for six months at the end of which Ballāla acted with unaccountable folly and brought on his own doom. When the besieged forces opened negotiations, he consented to allow them to get into touch with the sultan at Madura to settle the terms of surrender; this naturally led to Ghiyas-ud-din’s marching quickly to the relief of the beleaguered garrison with some 4,000 troopers, all he could gather in the straits to which he found himself reduced. Ballāla was taken completely by surprise when his camp was attacked by the Madura army. Nasir-ud-din, the sultan's nephew and afterwards his successor, overtook an old man and was about to kill him when one of his slaves identified him as the Hindu sovereign; he was then made prisoner and taken before the sultan. Treating him at first with apparent consideration, Ghiyas-ud-din persuaded him to part with all his riches, horses and elephants; and then had him killed and flayed. ‘His skin was stuffed with straw and hung upon the wall of Madura, where,’ says Ibn Batuta, ‘I saw it in the same position’ (1342).