2023-02-17 20:19:25 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
PREFACE
vii
is we find him questioning even the veracity of the
Madhurāvijayam in regard to the final fate of the
Sambuvarāya rule. The Madhurāvijayam describes
the total extermination of the Sambuvarāya rule in
Tonḍaimanḍalam while Sri Gopinatha Rao doubts if
Gangā Dēvi's reference to the killing of the Sambuva-
rāya might not be to "heighten the poetic effect of the
narrative." Sri Gopinatha Rao has also mixed up
chronological and genealogical factors of Sambuvarāya
history, depending on literary evidence, and made the
Sambuvarāya a "tributary" of Kampaņa. This ques-
tion has been examined thoroughly in the introduction
and it will be seen that new light has been thrown on
Sambuvarāya-Vijayanagar relationship. It has also
been shown that the destruction of the Sambuvaraya
rule and of the Madhurai Sultanate by Kampana were
not two isolated events but two aspects of a grand and
vital scheme, viz., "Madhurāvijayam" or the conquest
of Madhurai.
This edition can be justified on other grounds as
well. For the first time a succinct history of the
Sambuvarāyas is supplied. The Sambuvarayas were
no doubt an insignificant line of feudatory chiefs but
the times during which they ruled were great in the
history of South India. With the Hoysala power reduc-
ed to nullity, with the Kakatiya fame dimmed for ever,
with the Pandyas no longer sovereigns of Madhurai,
South India, especially the Tamil country, afforded
splendid opportunities for adventurous marauders. The
catastrophe which overtook the Tamil country was the
direct result of the relentless campaigns of Alauddin's
general, Malik Kafur. The feudatory chiefs of the
vii
is we find him questioning even the veracity of the
Madhurāvijayam in regard to the final fate of the
Sambuvarāya rule. The Madhurāvijayam describes
the total extermination of the Sambuvarāya rule in
Tonḍaimanḍalam while Sri Gopinatha Rao doubts if
Gangā Dēvi's reference to the killing of the Sambuva-
rāya might not be to "heighten the poetic effect of the
narrative." Sri Gopinatha Rao has also mixed up
chronological and genealogical factors of Sambuvarāya
history, depending on literary evidence, and made the
Sambuvarāya a "tributary" of Kampaņa. This ques-
tion has been examined thoroughly in the introduction
and it will be seen that new light has been thrown on
Sambuvarāya-Vijayanagar relationship. It has also
been shown that the destruction of the Sambuvaraya
rule and of the Madhurai Sultanate by Kampana were
not two isolated events but two aspects of a grand and
vital scheme, viz., "Madhurāvijayam" or the conquest
of Madhurai.
This edition can be justified on other grounds as
well. For the first time a succinct history of the
Sambuvarāyas is supplied. The Sambuvarayas were
no doubt an insignificant line of feudatory chiefs but
the times during which they ruled were great in the
history of South India. With the Hoysala power reduc-
ed to nullity, with the Kakatiya fame dimmed for ever,
with the Pandyas no longer sovereigns of Madhurai,
South India, especially the Tamil country, afforded
splendid opportunities for adventurous marauders. The
catastrophe which overtook the Tamil country was the
direct result of the relentless campaigns of Alauddin's
general, Malik Kafur. The feudatory chiefs of the