2023-02-17 20:21:58 by ambuda-bot
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V. THE CONQUEST OF MADHURAI
1. THE POLITICAL CONDITION PRECEDING THE CONQUEST
Among the territories that suffered the worst
rapine and plunder was Ma'bar. According to Khusrau²
Ma'bar lay within that distance from Delhi which could
be reached after a normal journey of twelve months.
As Khusrau says, the Muslim arrows had "never
reached that distant land". As regards the identity of
Ma'bar there is no doubt. The region of the Coroman-
dal east of Peninsular India might be said to corres-
pond roughly to what was known to Arab geographers
as Ma'bar. The author of Taquivim ul-Buldan quoted
by Al-Qalquashandi (Subh ul-A-sha) (Ed. by Otto
Spies) says that Ma'bar "lies to the east of Kaulam
(possibly Kollam or Quilon at three or four days
journey in a southerly direction"). Ibn Sa'ib quoted
by the same source says, "it is well-known and muslin
is exported from there; its washermen are proverbial"
What was the condition of Ma'bar at that time ?
The Pandyas who had taken the sovereignty of the
South from the Colas were ruling with Madhurai as
their capital and Bihr dhal or Vira Dhavalpaṭṭaṇam as
a sort of a secondary capital. The empire had, probably
as a result of a dynastic feud, come under the rule of
more than one king. Marco Polo testifies to the plural
monarchy in Ma'bar. Epigraphical evidence lends con-
firmation to this position just on the eve of Malik
1. Khaza'n-Futuh.
2. Otto Spies: An Arab account of India in the 14th century,
(page 38).
V. THE CONQUEST OF MADHURAI
1. THE POLITICAL CONDITION PRECEDING THE CONQUEST
Among the territories that suffered the worst
rapine and plunder was Ma'bar. According to Khusrau²
Ma'bar lay within that distance from Delhi which could
be reached after a normal journey of twelve months.
As Khusrau says, the Muslim arrows had "never
reached that distant land". As regards the identity of
Ma'bar there is no doubt. The region of the Coroman-
dal east of Peninsular India might be said to corres-
pond roughly to what was known to Arab geographers
as Ma'bar. The author of Taquivim ul-Buldan quoted
by Al-Qalquashandi (Subh ul-A-sha) (Ed. by Otto
Spies) says that Ma'bar "lies to the east of Kaulam
(possibly Kollam or Quilon at three or four days
journey in a southerly direction"). Ibn Sa'ib quoted
by the same source says, "it is well-known and muslin
is exported from there; its washermen are proverbial"
What was the condition of Ma'bar at that time ?
The Pandyas who had taken the sovereignty of the
South from the Colas were ruling with Madhurai as
their capital and Bihr dhal or Vira Dhavalpaṭṭaṇam as
a sort of a secondary capital. The empire had, probably
as a result of a dynastic feud, come under the rule of
more than one king. Marco Polo testifies to the plural
monarchy in Ma'bar. Epigraphical evidence lends con-
firmation to this position just on the eve of Malik
1. Khaza'n-Futuh.
2. Otto Spies: An Arab account of India in the 14th century,
(page 38).