A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar | Page 9

four arms with
four hands; and that every time he prayed roses fell to him from out of
heaven. He was a great conqueror, he held a large part of this earth
under his dominion, he subdued ... (blank in original) kings, and slew
them, and flayed them, and brought their skins with him; so that
besides his own name, he received the nickname ... which means 'lord
of ... skins of kings;' he was chief of many people.

"There is a story telling how he fell into a passion on account of
(BEING GIVEN?) eighteen letters (OF THE ALPHABET TO HIS
NAME?), when according to his own reckoning he was entitled to
twenty-four.[12] There are tales of him which do indeed seem most
marvellous of the things that he did; as, for instance, how he made
ready an army because one day in the morning, while standing dressing
at a window which was closed, a ray of the sun came into his eyes, and
he cried out that he would not rest until he had killed or vanquished
whomsoever had dared to enter his apartments while he was dressing.
All his nobles could not dissuade him from his purpose, even though
they told him it was the sun that had done it, a thing without which they
could not live, that it was a celestial thing and was located in the sky,
and that he could never do any harm to it. With all this he made his
forces ready, saying that he must go in search of his enemy, and as he
was going along with large forces raised in the country through which
he began his march so much dust arose that it obscured the sun. When
he lost sight of it he made fresh inquiries as to what the thing was, and
the captains told him that there was now no reason for him to wait, and
that he might return home since he had put to flight him whom he had
come to seek. Content with this, the king returned by the road that he
had taken in his search for the sun, saying that since his enemy had fled
he was satisfied.
"Other extravagances are told of him which make him out a great lord,
as, for instance, that being in the Charamaodel country he was told that
certain leagues distant in the sea there was a very great island, and its
land was gold, and the stones of its houses and those which were
produced in the ground were rubies and diamonds: in which island
there was a pagoda, whither came the angels from heaven to play music
and dance. Being covetous of being the lord of this land, he determined
to go there, but not in ships because he had not enough for so many
people, so he began to cart a great quantity of stones and earth and to
throw it into the sea in order to fill it up, so that he might reach the
island; and putting this in hand with great labour he did so much that he
crossed over to the island of Ceyllao, which is twelve or fifteen leagues
off[13], This causeway that he made was, it is said, in course of time
eaten away by the sea, and its remains now cause the shoals of Chillao.
Melliquiniby,[14] his captain-general, seeing how much labour was

being spent in a thing so impossible, made ready two ships in a port of
Charamaodell which he loaded with much gold and precious stones,
and forged some despatches as of an embassy sent in the name of the
king of the island, in which he professed his obedience and sent
presents; and after this the king did not proceed any further with his
causeway.
"In memory of this work he made a very large pagoda, which is still
there; it is a great place of pilgrimage.
"There are two thousand of these and similar stories with which I hope
at some time to trouble your honour; and with other better ones, if God
gives me life. I kiss your honour's hand."[15]
To conclusively establish the fact that this account can only refer to
Muhammad Taghlaq of Delhi, who reigned from 1325 to 1351, it is
necessary that we should look into the known character of that monarch
and the events of his reign.
Nuniz states that his "Togao Mamede" conquered Gujarat, was at war
with Bengal, and had trouble with the Turkomans on the borders of
Sheik Ismail, I.E. Persia.[16] To take these in reverse order. Early in
the reign of Muhammad Taghlaq vast hordes of Moghuls invaded the
Panjab and advanced almost unopposed to Delhi, where the king
bought them off by payment of immense sums of money. Next as to