The invasion of the Pandya kingdom       by Malik Kafur (commander of Ala-ud-
simultaneous war of succession among the Pandya princes seem to have
weakened their rule and paved the way for the temporary subjugation of the
Pandyas by Ravivarma Kulasekhara of Kerala in 1312–13. A partial recovery
of Pandya power was made soon after by Vira Pandya with the help of his
Hoyasala ally. But the kingdom soon faced threats from both internal and
external enemies. Factional strife among Pandya princes encouraged some
feudatories to declare their independence, while external threat came in the
form of an invasion by Kakatiya Prataparudra, who occupied a part of the
kingdom. The process of disintegration was hastened by an expedition led by
Khusrau in the reign of Mubarak Khalji. But the final threat came in 1323,
when Jauna Khan, son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, conquered Madurai. The
capture of Madurai did not, however, mean the total extinction of Pandya
dynasty. Inscriptions of several Pandyas, covering the period 1315–1411,
have been found in different parts of the modem day Tamil Nadu.
Sultans of Madurai
Madurai, which was annexed to the Delhi sultanate towards the close of
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq’s reign became the capital of the province of
Malabar. Jalal-ud-din Ahsan Shah (1334–40), the governor of the province,
took advantage of Muhammad bin Tughluq’s difficulties and declared his
independence. An important event of his reign was the visit of Ibn Battutah, a
Moroccan traveller, to his kingdom. Ghiyas-ud-din Damghan Shah (1340–
44), the next Sultan of Madurai, defeated and killed Vira Ballala III, the
Hoyasala ruler of Dwarasamudra. But the fruits of this victory seem to have
gone more to the Vijayanagar ruler than to the Sultan of Madurai, for the
Vijayanagar ruler was quick enough to annex most of the Hoyasala territory
to his kingdom. In the early fifties of the 14th century, the Vijayanagar forces
were engaged in a series of campaigns against the sultanate of Madurai.
According to the contemporary historian Afif, the Sultan was captured and
killed and the whole of the sultanate came under the control of Bikan, i.e.
Bukka I of Vijayanagar. Numismatic evidence, however, refers to the Sultans
ruling till 1377.
MONOTHEISTIC MOVEMENTS