Gangadevi Quotes (1360-1370)

“Hindu records of what the “law” of Islam meant to the Hindus are few and far between. But whenever they are available, they confirm the medieval Muslim historians. Gangadevi the wife of Kumar Kampana (died 1374 AD) of Vijayanagara writes as follows in her Madhurãvijayam regarding the state of things in the Madurai region when it was under Muslim rule:
“The wicked mlechchas pollute the religion of the Hindus every day. They break the images of gods into pieces and throw away the articles of worship. They throw into fire Srimad Bhagwat and other holy scriptures, forcibly take away the conchshell and bell of the Brahmanas, and lick the sandal paints on their bodies. They urinate like dogs on the tulsi plant and deliberately pass faeces in the Hindu temples. They throw water from their mouths on the Hindus engaged in worship, and harass the Hindu saints as if they were so many lunatics let large.””

“O King! The city, which is called Madhurapuri for its honeyed loveliness, has now become the city of cruel beasts; it now lives up to its earlier name of Vyaghrapuri, the city of tigers because humans don’t dwell there (anymore).
Those temples of Gods, which used to reverberate with the sacred melody of the mridangam, now echo the dreadful howls of jackals.
In the Brahmin Quarters [Agraharams] of our city, huge columns of smoke emanating from the scared Yagnas used to rise up and reach the skies amid the sacred Vedic chants but alas! today those selfsame Quarters send up wretched stenches of meat roasted by the Turushkas; the Vedic chants are today replaced by the beastly cacophonies of drunken hoodlums.
During the days of Pandyas, our women used to bathe in [river] Taamraparni, whose waters turned white from the sandal-paste applied to their breasts. My lord! Now she’s coloured only in red from the currents of blood flowing into her from all the cows slaughtered by its wicked occupiers all over the country.
O King! I cannot bear to look at the countenance of those Dravida ladies who were bounteously endowed with beauty. Ravished horribly by the scourging Turushkas, these delicate women now sport lifeless lips and exhale hot breaths, and their abundant tresses that have come undone are painful to the eyes. I don’t have the words to describe the suffering and dishonour painted on their faces, which know neither redemption nor protection.”

“O King! The city, which is called Madhurapuri for its honeyed loveliness, has now become the city of cruel beasts; it now lives up to its earlier name of Vyaghrapuri, the city of tigers because humans don’t dwell there (anymore). [1]
Those temples of Gods, which used to reverberate with the sacred melody of the mridangam, now echo the dreadful howls of jackals. [5]
In the Brahmin Quarters [Agraharams] of our city, huge columns of smoke emanating from the scared Yagnas used to rise up and reach the skies amid the sacred Vedic chants but alas! today those selfsame Quarters send up wretched stenches of meat roasted by the Turushkas; the Vedic chants are today replaced by the beastly cacophonies of drunken hoodlums. [7]
During the days of Pandyas, our women used to bathe in [river] Taamraparni, whose waters turned white from the sandal-paste applied to their breasts. My lord! Now she’s coloured only in red from the currents of blood flowing into her from all the cows slaughtered by its wicked occupiers all over the country. [13]
O King! I cannot bear to look at the countenance of those Dravida ladies who were bounteously endowed with beauty. Ravished horribly by the scourging Turushkas, these delicate women now sport lifeless lips and exhale hot breaths, and their abundant tresses that have come undone are painful to the eyes. I don’t have the words to describe the suffering and dishonour painted on their faces, which know neither redemption nor protection. [15]”

“One day, a strange woman appeared before king Kampana and complained in the following strain about the occupation of the south by Turushkas, and its evil effects. “O King! The place known as Vyaghrapuri (Chidambaram, Perumparrapuliyar) has become truly so, for tigers inhabit it now where man dowlt once; the vimana (dome of the central shrine) of Srirangam is so dilapidated that now it is the hood of Adisesha alone that is protecting the image of Ranganatha from the falling debris. The Lord of Gajaranya (Tiruvanaikka, Jambu-kesvaram near Srirangam), who once killed an elephant to obtain its skin for his garment, has now again been reduced to the same condition, because he has been stripped bare of all clothing; while the garbhagriha (central shrine) of many another temple is crumbling, its mandapas overgrown with vegetation and its ponderous wooden doors eaten up by white ants. In the temples which once resounded with the joyous mridanga (a kind of drum), there is heard at present only the jackals that have made them their abode. The river Kaveri, that was curbed by proper dams and flowed in regular channels, has begun to breach in all directions. In the agraharas where the smoke was seen to curl up from the fire-offerings (yagadhuma), we have now the offensive-smelling smoke issuing from the roasting of flesh by the Muhammadans, and the sonorous chant of the Vedas has been replaced by the harsh voice of these ruffians. The beautiful coconut trees which once graced the gardens surrounding the city of Madura, have been cut down by these intruders, and in place of these, we have gruesome substitutes in the form of iron sula, which are adorned with garlands of decapitated human heads strung together. The water of the river Tamraparni, which used to be rendered white by the sandal paste rubbed away from the breasts of youthful maidens at their bath, is now flowing ted with the blood of cows slaughtered by these great sinners”.
Thus did the strange lady describe to Kampana, the fate that had overtaken the fair south, and drawing from her girdle a resplendent sword, addressed the king once again as follows: “O Sovereign! Once upon a time the divine Visvakarma, gathering the splinters from the weapons of all the Devas and smelting them together, shaped this strange sword and presented it to Paramesvara for gaining victory over the daityas. By performing a severe penance, one of the early Pandya kings obtained it from Lord Paramesvara. With the help of this divine weapon the descendants of this race continued to rule the kingdom prosperously for a very long period; but by a misfortune the princes of the Pandya dynasty lost the virility of their sires. Agastya, having secured this remarkable sword, presents this now to you. Just as Krishna slew Kamsa in Mathura in olden times, O King! do you also proceed now to the southern Madhura and slaughter the Mussalman king, the enemy of the world, and set up several pillars of victory on the bridge of Rama (between the mainland and the island of Ramesvaram). During your administration of the south, you should also build a strong dam across the Kaveri, and make her flow in a manner useful to the agricultural population””