52 
IBN BATUTAS IJJ SOrTHERJf IWDIA. 
tate tlie man, then lie said to tliein (in Persian) ' va-zan-i-u-va' 
pusar-i-u,^ which signifies in Arabic ' also his son and his wife.' 
The sentence was carried out and I averted my gaze from the 
spectacle. When I arose, I saw their heads lying on the ground. 
" I was on another occasion in the presence of the sultan, 
Ghiyas-ad-din, before whom a Hindu had been brought. He 
pronounced some words, I did not understand, and immediately 
several of his satellites drew their daggers. I arose hurriedly, 
and he asked me, ' where goest thou?' I replied, 'I go to perform 
the afternoon prayer.' He understood the motive of my conduct, 
smiled, and ordered the hands and feet of the idolater to be cut 
off. On my return I found the unfortunate bathed in his own 
blood." 
Tliere appears to have been a ceaseless petty warfare 
carried on between tbe different rulers of the western coast. 
Ibn Batutah specially mentions one great victory gained by 
Grhiyas-ad-din over a powerful Hindu prince, Balal Diu 
( f.'^ J^), one of his neighboui'S. This prince, it appears, 
aimed at the conquest of the Coromandel Coast and could 
put 300,000 armed men in the field, not reckoning some 
20,000 Muhammadans, some of whom were escaped slaves 
and the rest adventurers and desperate characters. The 
Muhammadan army on the other hand consisted only of 
6,000 men, half of whom were excellent troops and the 
remainder worthless. The conflict began near the town of 
Kabban (o^), and the Hindus routed their enemies, 
who retreated to Mutrah (i/"), their capital.^ Balal Diu 
encamped close to Kabban, which is one of the chief strong- 
holds possessed by the Muhammadans, and there besieged 
them for six months, at the end of which time the garrison 
found they had only sufficient provisions left for another 
fortnight. The Hindu j'l'ince then proposed a sm-render. 
He desired the town to be abandoned and the besieged 
to retire imder a safe conduct. They replied they could 
' Described by Ibn Baltilali as the capital of the coimtry ^Madura r). 
