12.1 Bahmani Kingdom · Part 6

much interest in the south. Within the first four decades the small principality became a big kingdom through the military activities of the five brothers in different directions. First the entire core area of the Hoysala kingdom in Karnataka was incorporated into Vijayanagar. The coastal parts of Karnataka were soon taken over and remained an important part of the kingdom until the end. As this gave access to several port towns, good care was taken to administer this part under a successive line of pradhani or governors. Under Bukka I, attention was turned to Tondai-mandalam, covering the northern districts of Tamil area, which was under the rule of the Sambuvaraya chiefs. The prince Kampana (usually called Kumara Kampana), son of Bukka I, carried out this work successfully with the help of his faithful general Maraya-Nayak. He is also given credit for slaying the Madurai Sultan and bringing to an end that Sultanate in about . This is mentioned in Madura-vijayam , a Sanskrit work written by Kampana’s wife, Gangadevi. But strangely, the Pandya country including Madurai was not annexed to the Vijayanagar kingdom at