A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c6.14

c6.14

The thirteenth century was the age of the four Hindu kingdoms which inherited the territories and traditions of the two large empires that had preceded them. The Pāṇdyas and Hoysalas in the south, and the Yādavas and Kākatiyas in the north are the chief powers, and as usual a number of local feudatory dynasties flourished under the suzerainty of each. This state-system experienced a shock from outside at the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth. The Khilji sultans of Delhi after consolidating their power in North India began to cast their covetous eyes on the South; and the Khiljis were followed by the Tughlaks. At first the motive was only plunder and spoil; but soon the spread of Islam and territorial conquest became the objectives. Considerable parts of the country passed under the nominal sway of Delhi; and Madura, at first the seat of a Muslim governor from Delhi, grew by the rebellion of the governor into an independent sultanate. Colonies of Muslim soldiers and generals found lodgement in several parts of the country and began to control the administration of the land; temples were plundered and demolished, and mosques came to be erected. Hindu society faced a new peril; but the crisis was of relatively short duration; the distance from Delhi, the inherent weakness of a far-flung military imperialism, and the spirit of resistance in the people saved the Hindu faith in the South. Out of the numerous revolts that disrupted the empire of Muhammad bin Tughlak there arose two kingdoms in the Deccan, with centres in Vijayanagar and Gulbarga, in the first half of the fourteenth century.