muslims as traders came much ahead of the invaders. arabs had contact with tamilnadu much ahead of mohammed god himself came as an arab horse trader-in the case of manickavasagar. there were two types of muslim influence. the arabs and the others. arabs were more peace loving , came as traders, married local women. big settlement in cambay gujarat. the afgans, turks, uzbeks came as invaders. were more faster and ruthless. the first madurai sultanate was established in 1320's after the last pandya king parakrama was killed in battle with the thukluks.
the point to be noted was muslims supported the local king when malik attacked. also turk mulsims mercilessly destroyed cambay which was an arab dominated town in 1290. venketesh