Ajay Kumar at 19:11, 5 September 2023

2023-09-05T19:11:53Z

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{{Short description|Kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name = {{lang|fa|{{nq|مابار سلطنت}}}}
|conventional_long_name = Sultanate of Ma'bar
|common_name = Madurai Sultanate
|year_start = 1335
|year_end = 1378
|p1 = Delhi Sultanate
|flag_p1 =
|s1 = Vijayanagara Empire
|flag_s1 = Flag of vijaynagara.jpg
|capital = [[Madurai]]
|common_languages = [[Persian language|Persian]] (official)
|religion = [[Islam]] (official)
|government_type = Monarchy
|leader1 = [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]]
|year_leader1 = 1335–1339
|leader2 = Sikander Khan
|year_leader2 = 1368–1378
|today = [[India]]
}}
{{TNhistory}}
'''Ma'bar Sultanate''' ({{lang-fa|{{nq|مابار سلطنت}}}}), unofficially known as the '''Madurai Sultanate''', was a short lived kingdom based in the city of [[Madurai]] in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]] that was dominated by [[Urdu-speaking people|Urdu-speaking Muslims]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XQ6Z1pvFGx0C&dq=madurai+sultanate+indian+muslim&pg=PA14 |title= 'How Best Do We Survive?' A Modern Political History of the Tamil Muslims |author= Kenneth McPherson · |page=14 |date=2012 |isbn= 9781136198335 }}</ref> The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 in Madurai led by [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]], a native of [[Kaithal]] in [[North India]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JB-B7Hk_35AC&dq=kaithal+sayyids&pg=PA82 |author=Raj Kumar |title=Essays on Medieval India |page=82 |date= 2003 |isbn=9788171416837 }}</ref> declared his independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Ahsan Khan and his descendants ruled Madurai and surrounding territories until 1378 when the last sultan, Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah fell in battle against the forces of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. During this short span of 43 years, the Sultanate had 8 different rulers.

==Origins==
[[File:Coin of Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan.jpg|right|thumb|Coin of [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]] first ruler of the Sultanate of Madurai]]

The founder Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan was a [[Sayyid]] native of [[Kaithal]], [[Haryana]], of the same descent of the Muslim historian [[Ziauddin Barani]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JB-B7Hk_35AC&dq=kaithal+sayyids&pg=PA82 |author=Raj Kumar |title=Essays on Medieval India |page=82 |date= 2003 |isbn=9788171416837 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/jalal-al-din-ahsan-COM_32708 |title= Jalal al-Din Ahsan |author1=Kate Fleet |author2=Gudrun Krämer |author3=Denis Matringe |author4=John Nawas |author5=Devin J. Stewart }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5ItAAAAMAAJ&q=Writing+about+a+century+later+,+Ya%E1%B8%A5ya+Sarhindi+also+calls+him+a+Sayyid+form+Kaithal |title= Kusumāñjali:New Interpretation of Indian Art & Culture : Sh. C. Sivaramamurti Commemoration Volume · Volume 2 |author=M. S. Nagaraja Rao| date=1987 }}</ref>

In 1325, Fakhruddin Jauna Khan acceded to the throne in Delhi as [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]]. His plans for invading [[Persia]] and [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] bankrupted his treasury and led to the issuing of token currency. This led to counterfeiting and further worsened the sultanate's finances. He was unable to pay his huge army and the soldiers stationed in distant provinces revolted. The first province to rebel was Bengal and Ma'bar soon followed. The Governor of Ma'bar, [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]] declared independence and set up the Madurai Sultanate.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=138}} The exact year of founding of the Madurai Sultanate is not clear. Numismatic evidence points to 1335 CE as the founding year.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|pp=152-53}} The Persian historian [[Firishta]] however places the year of Ma'bar's revolt as 1340 CE.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=152}}

This short lived Muslim dynasty at Madurai came into existence following the decline of the [[Pandyan Dynasty|Second Pandyan empire]], and ruled [[Madurai]], [[Trichinopoly]] and parts of [[South Arcot]], for the next 43 years, first as feudatories of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and later as independent monarchies lasting until 1378.<ref>{{harvnb|Majumdar|2006|pp=233–7}}</ref> The Madurai Sultanate was destroyed by the rise of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara]], later followed by the [[Madurai Nayaks]].

A rich merchant from the Ma'bar Sultanate, Abu Ali (P'aehali) 孛哈里 (or 布哈爾 Buhaer), was associated closely with the Ma'bar royal family. After falling out with them, he moved to [[Yuan dynasty]] China and received a Korean woman as his wife and a job from the Mongol Emperor; the woman was formerly [[w:zh:桑哥|桑哥]] Sangha's wife and her father was 蔡仁揆 [[w:ko:채송년|채송년]] Ch'ae In'gyu during the reign of 忠烈 [[Chungnyeol of Goryeo]], recorded in the [[Dongguk Tonggam]], [[Goryeosa]] and [[w:zh:留夢炎|留夢炎]] Liu Mengyan's 中俺集 Zhong'anji.<ref name="Schottenhammer2008">{{cite book|author=Angela Schottenhammer|title=The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GSA_AaRdgioC&pg=PA138|year=2008|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05809-4|pages=138–}}</ref><ref>Sen, Tansen (2006) “The Yuan Khanate and India: Cross-cultural Diplomacy in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries”. Asia Major 19 (1/2). Academia Sinica: [http://www2.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/file/1445ZBWAkRi.pdf 317.] https://www.jstor.org/stable/41649921?seq=17.</ref> [[w:zh:桑哥|桑哥]] Sangha was a Tibetan.<ref>http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp110_wuzong_emperor.pdf p. 15.</ref><--!>

== Jalal-ud-Din Ahsan Khan ==
[[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]] declared independence from [[Delhi Sultanate]] around 1335 CE. His daughter was married to the historian [[Ibn Battuta]] and his son Ibrahim was the purse bearer of [[Muhammad bin Tughluq]].{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=165}} When Tughluq heard of Jalaluddin's rebellion he had Ibrahim killed in retaliation. Jalaluddin is variously referred to as "Syed", "Hasan" or "Hussun" by the historians [[Firishta]] and [[Ziauddin Barani]]. Tughluq tried to conquer the [[History of Tamil Nadu|Tamil]] region, known in Muslim chronicles as Ma'bar back in 1337 CE. But he fell ill at Bidar on the way to Ma'bar and had to return to [[Devagiri|Deogiri]]. His army was defeated by Jalaluddin.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=154}} Jalaluddin was killed by one of his nobles in 1340 CE.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=165}}

==Ala-ud-Din Udauji and Qutb-ud-Din Firuz==
[[File:Coin of Ala-ud-Din Udauji, Madurai Sultanate, 1339 AD.jpg|thumb|140px|Coin of Ala-ud-Din Udauji, Madurai Sultanate, 1339 AD.]]After Jalaluddin's murder, Ala-ud-Din Udauji Shah took power in 1340 CE. He was succeeded by his son in law Qutb-ud-Din Firuz Shah, who in turn was assassinated within forty days of taking power. Qutbuddin's killer Ghiyas-ud-din Dhamagani took over as Sultan in 1340.

==Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani==
Ghiyasuddin was defeated by the Hoysala king [[Veera Ballala III]] at first, but later managed to capture and kill Ballala in 1343 CE during [[Battle of Kannanur|the siege of Kannanur Koppam]]. Ghiyasuddin captured Balalla, robbed him of his wealth, had him killed and his stuffed body displayed on the walls of [[Madurai]].{{sfnp|Nilanakta Sastri|1958|pp=217-18}} Ghiyasuddin died in 1344 CE from the after effects of an [[aphrodisiac]].{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|pp=166-69}}

===Ibn Battuta's chronicles===
During his reign, [[Ibn Battuta]], the [[Muslim]] [[Marinid dynasty|Moroccan]] explorer known for his extensive travels through Africa and Asia, visited his court while on his way to [[China]]. He married [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan]]'s daughter. His travel notes mention Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani's atrocious behaviour towards the local population. His army under his personal orders had the habit of frequently rounding up the local villagers, indiscriminately [[Impalement|impaling]] them on sharpened wooden spikes and leaving them to die.<ref name="books.google.co.in">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZF2spo9BKacC&dq=Ibn+Battuta+madurai&pg=PA245 Jerry Bently, ''The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century'' by Ross E. Dunn (University of California Press, 1986),245.]</ref> These accounts of were published in a travelogue that has come to be known as [[The Rihla]] (lit. "Journey"). This History is also displayed in Ibn Battuta Mall Dubai<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibnbattutamall.com/en|title=Largest Themed Shopping Mall in Dubai}}</ref>

==Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Damghan Shah ==
Ghiyasuddin was succeeded by his nephew Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Damghan Shah, reportedly a soldier who originated from [[Delhi]]. He fled Hindustan and joined his uncle in Madurai.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iRJuAAAAMAAJ&q=who+ascended+the+throne+of+Madura+in+1344-45+,+is+said+to+have+been+a+domestic+servant+at |title= A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat, A.D. 1206-1526, edited by Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |page=1018 |date=1970 }}</ref> He upon ascension quickly started dismissing and killing many of the officers and nobles and various political enemies who were likely to disturb his possession of the throne.<ref name="books.google.co.in"/> He too fell into decline and was killed in a short time.

==Rule==
From contemporary historical accounts, the rulers of Madurai Sultanate come across as tyrants and persecutors of Hindus. Both [[Ibn Battuta|Ibn Batutta]]'s and [[Gangadevi]]'s accounts contain graphic descriptions of atrocities committed by the Sultans on the Hindu population.

Ibn Batuta describes Ghiyasuddin Dhamgani's actions as:

{{quote|the Hindu prisoners were divided into four sections and taken to each of the four gates of the great catcar. There, on the stakes they had carried, the prisoners were impaled. Afterwards their wives were killed and tied by their hair to these pales. Little children were massacred on the bosoms of their mothers and their corpses left there. Then, the camp was ra[z]ed, and they started cutting down the trees of another forest. In the same manner did they treat their later Hindu prisoners. This is shameful conduct such as I have not known any other sovereign guilty of. It is for this that God hastened the death of Ghiyath-eddin.

One day whilst the [[qadi|Kadhi]] (Kazi) and I were having our food with (Ghiyazu-d-din), the Kazi to his right and I to his left, an infidel was brought before him accompanied by his wife and son aged seven years. The Sultan made a sign with his hand to the executioners to cut off the head of this man ; then he said to them in Arabic : 'and the son and the wife.' They cut off
their heads and I turned my eyes away. When I looked again, I saw their heads lying on the ground.

I was another time with the Sultan Ghiyath-eddin when a Hindu was brought into his presence. He uttered words I did not understand, and immediately several of his followers drew their daggers. I rose hurriedly, and he said to me ; ' Where are you going ' ? I replied : ' I am going to say my afternoon (4 o'clock) prayers. ' He understood my reason, smiled, and ordered the hands and feet of the idolater to be cut off. On my return I found the unfortunate swimming in his blood.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=236}}}}

Gangadevi's ''[[Madhura Vijayam]]'' declares the Muslim rule to be the ''pain to the three worlds'':

{{quote|O mighty and brave king! Go forth then, and without further delay uproot from my lands this Kingdom of turushkas, pain to the three worlds. Go forth my dear Lord, and securing your victory, establish One Hundred Victory Pillars in middle of the famed Rama-setu!<ref name="E">[http://bharatendu.com/2008/10/30/madhuravijaya/ A Portion from Madhura Vijaya]</ref>}}

On the condition of [[Madurai]] under the Muslim rule, Gangadevi writes:
{{quote|I very much lament for what has happened to the groves in Madhura. The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at the points.

In the highways which were once charming with the sounds of anklets of beautiful women, are now heard ear-piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron fetters.

...The waters of Tambraparni which were once white with sandal paste rubbed away from the breasts of charming girls are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by the miscreants.{{sfnp|Chattopadhyaya|2006|p=141}}}}

Ibn Batuta describes a plague afflicting Madurai:
{{quote|When I arrived at Madura, there was a contagious disease prevalent there which killed people in a short time. Those who were attacked succumbed in two or three days. If their end was delayed, it was only until the fourth day. On leaving my dwelling, I saw people either sick or dead.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=240}}{{sfnp|Lee|1829|p=191}}}}

Gangadevi agrees with the Ibn Battuta on the prevalence of unnatural death:
{{quote|The [[Yama|God of death]] takes his undue toll of what are left [of] lives if undestroyed by the [[Yona|Yavanas]].{{sfnp|Chattopadhyaya|2006|p=142}}}}

==Decline==

Between 1344 and 1357 CE, the Madurai Sultanate went into a decline due to infighting and the rise of Vijayanagar in the North. This is inferred by the lack of any coinage issued during this period. However coins from 1358 to 1378 bearing the names of three Madurai Sultans – Shams-ud-Din Adil Shah, Fakhr-ud-Din Mubarak Shah and Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah – have been found. This indicates an interruption of the Indian Muslim power during 1344–57 CE and a brief revival during 1357–78 CE.{{sfnp|Aiyangar|1921|p=176}}

==Fall==
The [[Vijayanagara Empire]] under [[Bukka Raya I]] made a series of efforts to conquer [[South India]]. There were a series of Vijayanagaran invasions in the middle of the fourteenth century which succeeded in initially restricting and finally ending the Madurai Sultanate's rule over South India. Historian John Bowman says that Bukka Raya annexed Madurai to his [[Karnata empire]]'s south in 1360 CE. Vijayanagar's armies were led by Bukka's son, Kumara Kampana. Kampana first subdued the [[Sambuvaraya]] dynasty in present-day [[Kanchipuram district]], then a vassal of [[Delhi Sultanate]] who refused to aid the Madurai conquest and then conquered [[Madurai]]. Bowman states that the Ma'bar Sultanate was conquered by Kumara Kampana in 1370 CE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowman |first=John S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C |title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture |date=2000-09-05 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50004-3 |pages=270, 338, 360 |language=en}}</ref> Kampana's invasion has been chronicled in the Sanskrit epic poem ''[[Madura Vijayam]]'' ("The Conquest of Madurai") or ''Vira Kamparaya Charithram'' ("History of Kampana"), written by Kampana's wife [[Gangadevi]]. Kampana's victory is symbolised by the restoration of the [[Srirangam]] temple to its old glory in 1371 CE. Vijayanagara formally declared Madurai to be its possession during [[Harihara II]]'s rule in 1378 CE.{{sfnp|Nilakanta Sastri|1958|p=241}}

==Shahs of Madurai==
{| width=100% class="wikitable"
! style="background-color:#F0DC82" width=9% | Titular Name
! style="background-color:#F0DC82" width=9% | Personal Name
! style="background-color:#F0DC82" width=9% | Reign
|-
|colspan=4 align="middle"| Independence from [[Tughlaq dynasty]] of [[Delhi Sultanate]].
|-
|align="center"|''Jalal-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| جلال الدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan|Ahsan Khan]]
|align="center"|1335–1339 CE
|-
|align="center"| ''Ala-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| علاء الدین شاہ }} 
|align="center"| [[Ala-ud-din Udauji Shah]]
|align="center"|1339 CE
|-
|align="center"|''Qutb-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| قطب الدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Qutb-ud-Din Firuz Shah|Firuz Khan]]
|align="center"|1339–1340 CE
|-
|align="center"| ''Ghiyath-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| غیاث الدین شاہ}}
|align="center"| [[Ghiyas-ud-Din Muhammad Damghani|Muhammad Damghani]]
|align="center"|1340–1344 CE
|-
|align="center"|''Nasir-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| ناصر الدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Damghani|Mahmud Damghani]]
|align="center"| 1344–1345 CE
|-
|align="center"|''Shams-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| شمس الدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Shams-ud-Din Adil Shah|Adil Khan]]
|align="center"| 1356–1358 CE
|-
|align="center"|''Fakhr-ud-din Shah'' {{Nastaliq| فخرالدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Fakhr-ud-Din Mubarak Shah|Mubarak Khan]]
|align="center"| 1358–1368 CE
|-
|align="center"|''Ala-ud-din Shah II'' {{Nastaliq| علاء الدین شاہ }}
|align="center"| [[Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah|Sikander Khan]]
|align="center"| 1368–1378 CE
|-
|colspan=4 align="middle"| Conquered by [[Vijayanagara Empire]].
|}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File: A copper coin of Muhammad Damghan of Madurai Sultanate.jpg|copper coin of Muhammad Damghani
File:A copper coin of Adil Shah of Maduai Sultanate.jpg|A copper coin of Adl Shah
File:Coin of Fakhr-ud-Din Mubarak Shah, Madurai Sultanate, 1358–1368 CE.jpg|Coin of Fakhr-ud-Din Mubarak Shah, Sultan of Madurai Sultanate, 1358–1368 CE.
File:A copper coin of Sikandar Shah of Madurai Sultanate.jpg|A copper coin of Sikandar Shah the last ruler
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist |2}}

==Bibliography==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
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[[Category:Tamil history]]
[[Category:History of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Empires and kingdoms of India]]
[[Category:History of Madurai]]
[[Category:Former sultanates]]
[[Category:Islamic rule in the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:History of Tiruchirappalli]]

Madurai Sultanate - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:11, 5 September 2023