During the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire era, Jagannath temples were one of the targets of the Muslim armies. Firuz Tughlaq, for example raided Odisha and desecrated the Jagannath temple according to his court historians. Odisha was one of the last eastern regions to fall into the control of Sultanates and Mughal invasion, and they were among the earliest to declare independence and break away. According to Starza, the Jagannath images were the targets of the invaders, and a key religious symbol that the rulers would protect and hide away in forests from the aggressors. However, the Muslims were not always destructive. For example, during the rule of Akbar, the Jagannath tradition flourished. However, states Starza, Muslim attacks on the Puri temple became serious after the death of Akbar, continued intermittently throughout the reign of Jahangir.