meliga succeeded his elder brother mandalika ii in 1400 ce. his father mokalasimha had to move the capital from junagadh to vanthali due to order from the governor of gujarat zafar khan on behalf of delhi sultan firuz shah tughluq who placed a "thanadar". it seems that meliga had played no role when zafar khan attacked somnath temple in 1402 ce which was under repair. meliga expelled the "thanadar" from junagadh and again made it his capital. according to the "mandalika kavya", he had sheltered a jhala chieftain (probably satarsal) fleeing from gujarat sultan ahmad shah i. "mirat-i-sikandari" tells that, in 1413-14 ce, ahmad shah marched against junagadh. on this occasion, melinga fought a pitched battle with ahmad shah at vanthali but was defeated and fled to junagadh. vanthali was taken by ahmad shah who then marched to junagadh and took the lower fortress (the uparkot but the raja escaped by fleeing to the upper fortress of girnar. but the "mirat-i-sikandri" adds, 'the greater part of the "zamindar"s of sorath became submissive and obedient and consented to service.' ahmad shah left two officers, sayad ábûl khair and sayad kásim, were left to collect the "zamindar"'s tribute, "salami" and returned to his capital, ahmedabad. the inscriptions (vs 1469/1413 ce) on five "paliya"s (memorial stones) of people died in battle at vanthali corroborate this event.