In the preceding chapters, reference has been made to the invasions of the southern states by the Delhi Sultans. In this chapter, a detailed and connected account of these invasions has been given in their historical perspective.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century A.D., as mentioned in the previous chapter, Deccan peninsula was divided into four Hindu kingdoms. To the south of the Vindhyas, lay the Yadava kingdom of Devagiri which included the present Maharashtra state and part of Karnataka in the south-western Deccan.
The extensive empire of the Kakatiyas of Warangal lay to its south-east. It stretched up to Kalyani in the north-west, Raichur in the south-west, Kanchi in the south and Simhachalam in the north-east. The kingdom of the great Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra comprised the erstwhile state of Mysore and part of south-western Deccan. There was yet another small kingdom of Kampili.
It included the districts of Raichur, Bellary, Dharwar and some parts of eastern Mysore. All these Hindu kingdoms were extremely rich. They had accumulated huge treasures through centuries and had so far escaped any invasion from across the Vindhyas.
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As related already, they were, however, frequently at war with each other and were ready to fall a prey to a powerful invader. Further the people were divided into several sects due to the intense religious activities of the various teachers during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.