It must, however, be stated that the conquest of Deccan was transitory in nature. In fact, Ala-ud-din never wanted to annex the territories and thus face administrative difficulties and constant rebellions.
The example of Rajputana was before him. Like his predecessor, Mahmud of Ghazni, Ala-ud-din’s main objective was to get possession of the fabulous wealth of Deccan.
He was able to achieve his purpose and his treasury was filled with the immense wealth of South India. He vanquished the rulers of Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra and Mabar. Ramachandra of Devagiri and Hoysala king Ballala went to Delhi to pay their respects to the sultan. Pratap-rudradeva of Telingana had to accept defeat and surrender all his wealth while Vira Pandya, king of Mabar took refuge in flight.
It must, however, be admitted that in spite of these victories, the Muslim success was shortlived. As soon as, the invaders turned their back, the rulers adopted an attitude of indifference amounting to hostility and reasserted their authority.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In fact, Vira Pandya of Mabar never submitted while Singhana tried to regain independence. Malik Kafur had to undertake repeated expeditions to curb the refractory rulers and even towards the closing years of Ala-ud-din’s reign when Kafur was called back to Delhi, “Deccan was seething with disaffection and it was left to Mubarak Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq to reconquer South India once again.”