Fall of Pandya kingdom, Tamil Nadu: during Delhi Sultanate raid due to disunity in the royal house.

Navrang India October 16, 2022

Madurai Meenakshi temple, yaclass.in

Kulasekara pandiyan, facebook.com 

Normally, leaders or the heads of  countries should use discretion, besides  extreme caution   when dealing with sensitive or serious political issues  concerning the security and welfare of the nation because, a wrong move or misguidance   would spell disaster or doom. At stake will be the country and the people, not to speak of human and financial loss if war ensues in the aftermath. In a jiffy, it will make a powerful nation become penniless and disoriented. If you take the world history, it is replete with a lots of instances where the arrogant and  egotistical  leader to save his personal honor, dignity and political ideology, ultimately made the country plunge into an abysmal chaotic situation from which redemption was very difficult.  Presently, good example is the president of Ukraine 

The fall of Pandya kingdom, Tamil Nadu: 

In the Pandya kingdom of Madurai (now part of south Tamil Nadu) in the early 14th century CE  the squabble in the royal family spewed into open resulting in the confrontation  over successor  to the throne between two brothers - Jayavarma Veera Pandyan  (born out of wed-lock) and Jayavarman Sundara Pandiyan ( son of King Kulasekara Pandyan's Rani). Succession to the throne became too serious  a contentious issue.

Malik Kafur, a homosexual &slave.Delhi Sultanate
 bytwodesign.com.

Above image: A Muslim convert, an efficient military commander in the army of Alauddin Khilji of Slave Dynasty, Delhi.  In the early part of 1300s he raided Srirangam and Madurai temples to loot the treasures and caused widespread destruction and chaos. He made the Pandya kingdom bleed. He  returned to Delhi with countless bags of loot -  mostly valuable stuff, gold coins, gemstones, etc. The Muslim army came to Tamil Nadu at the wrong invitation of help by the warring brothers of the Pandya king, according to many historians .........

in.pinterest.com/

Centuries ago  among the families of monarch  the war of succession to the throne  was common and no  ruling dynasty was free from it. As much as they could  other elderly  royal members  tried hard to   settle  the dispute amicably among themselves,  not allowing  them to become a serious matter. They knew vey well that inviting the third party to  settle dispute would cause more confusion and spell doom to both the disputing parties.  This is what had happened to the Pandya rulers of South India centuries ago, who, without weighing the pros and cons  and wanted third part intervention to solve the succession matter. In haste, one of the Pandya brothers -  Sundara Pandyan  chose a  a despicable character - Alauddin Khilji of  the Delhi Sultanate.  The sultan instructed  his military commander Malik Kaufer was in   in present day Andhra during the 1310-11 Siege of Warangal against the Kakatiyas. Malik was a notorious killer and looter to whom mercy and compassion were anathema. 

 This act of seeking  the help of  a treacherous and dangerous person  was  akin to scratching the head with ''thee pantham'' (lighted torch). The Madurai  Pandya prince without second thoughts  made a costly  mistake. The Delhi sultanate's powerful  army  was looting many places across India and openly indulged  in religious persecution under the Malik Kaufer, a eunuch  and homosexual  I believe the famous diamond Koh-i-noor  was seized from the Kakatiya dynasty during this period.  

Madurai. tamilandvedas.com

Starting from  from Dwarasamudra of Hoysala kingdom (which had been looted by the Muslim army) on 10 March 1311 sultanate army reached Madurai in the beginning of 3rd week.  On reaching Madurai,  Malik Kaufer and his army had a swell time, taking advantage of  a war of succession between the Pandya brothers Vira and Sundara.  because of on going dispute, soldiers in the Pandya army were confused and did not fight effectively.   The Sultanate army  looted the towns in and around  and destroyed many temples including  the famous Meenakshi temple. The palace treasury yielded a lot. 
According to Alauddin Khalji's courtier and chronicler Amir Khusrau, the Delhi army 's loot on the raids in the south including Hoysala and Madurai Pandya kingdom included 512 elephants, 5,000 horses and 500 manns of gold and precious stones. The facts on the loot may be a subject of discussion, but the fact is the seizure of wealth from he Pandya kingdom was a large one - sacks of gold, costly jewelry, etc . The Delhi army returned to Delhi toward the end of April 1311 and commander Malik  won the admiration of the ruler.   
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Soon Madurai sultanate  was established  that ruled this place  till the Nayaks had seized the power from them. During the Nayak dynasty, the damaged Meenakshi temple was restore back to old glory. Fortunately idols of deities enshrined in the sanctum were secretly saved by the temple priests.