Attacks on Srirangam Temple by Vishal Agarwal 1311C.E.- Attacks by Malik Kafur, the general of Allauddin Khilji: According the traditional accounts, the Muslim army lead by Malik Kafur entered the Srirangam temple throught the northern gateway of the 3rd enclosure. The resistance of the Brahmins was overcome easily, the treasury and the storehouse were plundered and numerous icons were desecrated and destroyed. Malik Kafur’s foray however did not last long and soon, he retreated to the north with all the treasure he had looted from the temples of South India. The temple rituals resumed as before after the Muslim army retreated. 1323 C.E.- Ulugh Khan’s expedition and the sack of Srirangam temple: Ghiyas-ud-din Tuglaq, the Sultan of Delhi, deputed his eldest son Ulugh Khan to invade the Hindu kingdoms of South India in 1321 C.E. When the Muslim army of Ulugh Khan was close to the Srirangam temple, a festival was being conducted, in the course of which the procession image of Lord Ranganath was taken to a nearby shrine. The gathered devotees decided to keep the image where it was and the festival was continued. When the invaders reached Samayapuram, Srirangarajanathan Vaduldesika, a senior official of the temple, decided that no time was to be lost, and commanding the 12000 ascetics who had gathered there not to disperse, he sent away the procession image of the deity in the southern direction secretly, with Pillai Lokacarya as the guide of the secret party. Then, he dispatched secretly the image of Sriranga Nacciyar and a few boxes of treasure with a few attendants to a safe place, locked the doors of the sanctum sanctorum, barred the doorways of the shrines of both Lord Ranganayaka and Devi Ranganayika, placed pseudo images outside and then fled to the shrine of Panvijavian. The invading army desecrated the shrine, killed all the 12000 ascetics, including the great scholar Sri Sundarsana Bhatta. Another sage, Sri Vedanta Desika, hid himself amongst the corpses together with the sole manuscript of the Srutaprakasika, the magnum opus of Sri Sudarsana, and also the latter’s two sons. When the massacre was over, they fled to Satyamangalam in Mysore, where Sri Vedanta Desika published the Srutaprakasika. It is said that the image was finally housed in the protected sanctuary of Tirupati, unfortunately after Pillai Lokacarya died of shock when he heard of the slaughter of his kith and kin at Srirangam. The Muslim army occupied the temple precincts and put and an end to Hindu worship. A temple courtesan, who fascinated the invading general, prevailed upon him not to destroy the temple altogether, and restrict his vandalism to the destruction of a few cornices. The Brahmins in the surrounding areas tried to perform the sacred rituals whenever they could, but were harassed by the occupying Muslim forces constantly. The general was constantly attacked by disease as long as he remained in the temple, and so he moved to the nearby Poysalesvara temple, which he destroyed and erected a fortress at its place. The tale of sack of Srirangam cannot be complete without the mention of the sacrifice of the temple courtesan. Unable to bear the harassment of the devotees by the Muslims, she enticed the Muslim chief, took him up a temple tower in the east, and in the pretext of showing him a famous icon from there, she pushed him down and killed him. Scared that she will be tortured by the Muslims as a result of her deed, she threw herself also down. According to tradition, to honor her memory, the funeral pyres of temple courtesans are lit by fire brought from the temple kitchen. In 1371 C.E., the newly founded Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar wrested back Srirangam from Muslim control, and re-installed the icon hidden at Tirupati with full ceremonies and processions. 1752-1758 C.E.- Depredations by the French: During these 6 years, the temple was under the occupation of the French, who ruled from Pondicherry. They plundered the temple, and were planning on harassing the entire population that had taken refuge in the shrine, when an old Frenchman pleaded for mercy on behalf of the local inhabitants. Numerous accounts exist of the harassment of the inhabitants of the nearby areas by the occupying troops, including the molestation of women. The inner precincts of the temple were saved from desecration by 1000 Rajput soldiers of the army of Chanda Saheb. 1781 C.E.- The threat of another sack by Haider Ali: Haider Ali was the Muslim ruler of Mysore, who invaded Srirangam in 1781, devastating territories en route. The inhabitants of the region sought refuge in the shrine, and locked themselves in, whereupon Haider Ali decided to destroy the temple altogether. However, his Brahmin officers intervened and averted the disaster. 1790 C.E.- The threat from Tippu Sultan: Tippu, the son of Haider Ali, invaded the Carnatic in 1790 C.E. with his mammoth army, causing considerable havoc and destruction. He stationed his army in the temple for 6 days, and demanded 100000 gold pieces for his army from the temple authorities. The demand was refused, at which the Sultan turned wild. Fortunately however, Tippu had to flee for his own safety before he could wreak his vengeance upon the temple. ________________________ The instance below took place during the 'Carnatic Wars' (1743-1763) fought between the British and the French for the control of South India. Various Indian rulers also allied themselves along these two European rivals. In their mutual warfare, the Srirangam and the Jambukesvaram temples suffered a lot. Chanda Saheb allied with the French. Note that Chanda Saheb was the son in law of the Nawab of Arcot namely Dost Ali. He took advantage of a civil war at Tiruchirapalli and imprisoned the Hindu queen Minaksi (1732-36) of the town, establishing his own rule there. Stung by the indignities heaped upon her by Chanda Saheb's men, the queen took poison and died in 1736. During his rule (1736-1740), Chanda Saheb harassed the temple authorities a lot and extracted large amounts of money from them as tribute, till he was vanquished by the invading Maratha forces in 1740. "Writing in his diary under date 30 May 1752, Ananda Ranga Pillai, the well known dubash and courtier of Dupleix ( = the French Commander), states; 'Today I heard the following news. Of the troops at Srirangam with Chanda Saheb, M. Law, etc., only 300 troopers have received any pay for the last 6 months; the rest have no money to live on and have suffered much from the enemy's (= the British) blockade...They intended to have destroyed the Srirangam temple just as they destroyed the Jambukesvaram temple; but the temple people saved it for the present by giving them Rs. 60,000 and the grain stored there." (pg. 212) When the British finally overcame the French, they invaded the Srirangam temple as well, but the 1000 Hindu Rajputs who worked for Chanda Saheb refused to allow the British to invade the temple and ruin its sanctity. Impressed by the bravery of the Rajputs, the British abandoned their attack on the Srirangam temple. Reference: V. N. Hari Rao; History of the Srirangam Temple; Sri Venkareswara University; Tirupati; 1976