As Monsoon advanced, the war game between Shivaji and Afzalkhan entered into it's 'endgame' state. Even while they were figuring out the odds, an anticipated interference by the Mughals made them go for a tie-breaker session. Let us see how this all took place as we move forward in the game, shall we?
BLACK: Tick-Tock, the time is out.
Well, this was not exactly the signal given by Afzalkhan. Here the black refers to Aurangzeb, who crowned himself as the Mughal Emperor, on 6th June 1659. And then, on 14th July 1659, Shivaji received orders from the newly anointed Mughal emperor. "I am sending Shaistekhan as the Mughal Viceroy to Deccan. Comply to his commands."
Around the same time, Adilshah also received a memo from Aurangzeb. The gist of the memo was "Take care of the menace caused by Shivaji at the earliest."
Aurangzeb had played both the contenders. It was just a matter of time, and as soon as the monsoon was over, they were expecting Shaistekhan in Deccan. Now, their only chance was to act as fast as they can and secure their goals.
Shivaji immediately left Rajgad and reached Pratapgad. This helped him to be closer to Afzalkhan's post and this also helped to boost the spirit of his army in the territory.
On part of Afzalkhan, although he wanted to avoid the interference of the Mughals, he knew he was not at an immediate loss if Shaistekhan reaches Deccan. He was mentally prepared to join hands with Mughals. In fact, he had also got a large number of traders, merchants and jwellers along with him, so that he can buy various gifts from them, as per the liking of the Mughal commanders to confirm the gesture of his friendship.
In other words, the urgency was more upon Shivaji than Afzalkhan and he had to do something to resolve the deadlock of their game before time runs out completely.
WHITE: Engage the opponent, distract the moves, bring out the opponent's king.
Soon after Shivaji moved to Pratapgad, Jijabai sent one of her trusted maids and her envoy to Afzalkhan. They had brought a plea from Jijabai. "Please spare my only son alive. As it is, he is afraid of you. We will surrender all our forts to you, and keep only a handful of land and a couple of forts for our livelihood. Spare our lives in return and help us reconcile with the Adilshah. I had sent my son to you for surrender, but he is so afraid of you, he stopped mid-way and has gone into hiding on Pratapgad. As an elder among the two, please be generous to invite Shivaji to you. Please have mercy on us and help us."
Afzalkhan knew that Shahaji had changed many sides and had caused many troubles, but he had never lied. Afzalkhan therefore had no reason to distrust Shahaji's wife. More than that, he could sense the cry of a mother for saving her son's life. Also, even though Jijabai was lying, it did not matter. All that Afzalkhan needed was one live encounter with Shivaji. He tried that encounter to be on a battlefield, and did not succeed. Now thanks to the mercy plea by Jijabai, he had a chance to have one-to-one encounter with Shivaji. His wish had come true. He was going to respond to Jijabai.
Another advantage of this dialogue was that it would pacify Shahaji, who was now ready with a force of 17,000 in Bangalore.
Afzalkhan replied to Jijabai assuring her that her son will not be harmed in any ways. Jijabai's envoy kept on visiting Afzalkhan for another couple of months, but Afzalkhan had not yet initiated any dialogue with Shivaji directly.
Finally, in the month of October, just after both the Diwali and Eid celebrations were over, Krishnaji Bhasker went to Pratapgad and met Shivaji on behalf of Afzalkhan. Shivaji told him that he is too frightened of Afzalkhan and his massive force and he does not want to risk going to Wai for meeting Afzalkhan. He urged Afzalkhan to come in person to Pratapgad and take him along to Wai and Bijapur.
Afzalkhan commended Krishnaji Bhasker for securing a meeting with Shivaji and told him to finalize the terms of meeting. Shivaji appointed Pantaji Gopinath as his correspondent and the talks to decide terms of meeting begun.
In around 15 days time, all the terms and conditions of the meeting were finalized and approved by both Shivaji and Afzalkhan. These terms were:
1. Meeting would take place on 10th November 1659. The meeting spot should have only four people - Afzalkhan, Krishnaji Bhasker, Shivaji and Pantaji Gopinath. All these men should be unarmed.
2. One bodyguard at a entrance of the meeting tent was allowed for both sides. While Afzalkhan nominated Sayyad Banda for this position, Shivaji chose Jiva Mahal.
3. Ten guards at a distance of 10 meters from the tent. All these ten people were identified at the time of agreement itself and their names were listed in the agreement.
4. At a distance of Arrows throw, Afzalkhan will have his 1,000 musketeers deployed. Shivaji would keep an equal number of men at the Pratapgad Fort entrance.
5. As Shivaji is the younger one, he should go to meet Afzalkhan. Thus, Afzalkhan was to be seated first in the tent.
6. Shivaji was to arrange for creating the tent of meeting, as it was his territory. [This clause helped Shivaji to select the meeting spot, which was of a strategic advantage to the Marathas. The tent was erected at a spot which was easily visible from the Pratapgad fort and when the Musketeers of Afzalkhan stood on the other side down the slope, they had no view of the tent.]
Shivaji also asked Afzalkhan to bring along the group of merchants with him, as he wanted to buy rich gifts for the Adilshah and Afzalkhan and there were not many places to shop around Pratapgad :-)
Thus it was, that with the play of words, Shivaji convinced Afzalkhan to meet him in the place of his choice and brought him out of his highly secured camp.
BLACK: Promotion of the Pawn.
Many historians have projected Afzalkhan's decision to agree on Pratapgad as a venue as his folly. When I think about it, I don't think that was the case.
Afzalkhan had an unit of Prataprao More [descendant of Chandrarao More] and around 3000 of his men on his side. These men knew the nooks and corners of Javali Basin and the region surrounding Pratapgad. All he had to do was use the knowledge of these men and get to Shivaji. Also, considering that when the battle broke out after the Shivaji-Afzalkhan meeting, Fazalkhan [son of Afzalkhan] and Prataprao More were among the first to reach Wai, I believe that they were already set to travel and the plan was always that when Afzalkhan comes down from Pratapgad, he will march out of the area with these handful of men. But then, that's just me.
Speaking of Afzalkhan, he saw no harm in taking a short guided Jungle tour, if he was going to get his hand on Shivaji and he decided to go for it.
The mistake he did was that he could not resist a show-off of his strength to Shivaji. He kept only 5000 soldiers of the infantry in Wai, as a reserve force and took along all his cavalry, infantry, artillery and musketeer units to the bottom of Pratapgad. While his earlier moves had failed to have the desired effect on the battle, this was the first mistake Afzalkhan did.
As a military general, he could not appreciate the fact that passing through the dense forest with so many camels, so many elephants, so many horses, so many cannons - big and small was simply exhausting - for both his men and the animals. Moreover, if you have such a thick tree cover around and if there is no open ground around, what use are the cannons? Where will the camels and horses ride with the cavalry?
But then, when a man gets down to a show-off, it's hard to stop him :-)
My belief is that Afzalkhan promised to return the Javali province to the Prataprao More and make him the next Chandrarao [king of Javali] for his services during the battle.
Thus, as Afzalkhan was sensing the climax of the game, he promoted a pawn to be the knight that would lead his entire army into the dense forest of Javali.
BLACK: Tick-Tock, the time is out.
Well, this was not exactly the signal given by Afzalkhan. Here the black refers to Aurangzeb, who crowned himself as the Mughal Emperor, on 6th June 1659. And then, on 14th July 1659, Shivaji received orders from the newly anointed Mughal emperor. "I am sending Shaistekhan as the Mughal Viceroy to Deccan. Comply to his commands."
Around the same time, Adilshah also received a memo from Aurangzeb. The gist of the memo was "Take care of the menace caused by Shivaji at the earliest."
Aurangzeb had played both the contenders. It was just a matter of time, and as soon as the monsoon was over, they were expecting Shaistekhan in Deccan. Now, their only chance was to act as fast as they can and secure their goals.
Shivaji immediately left Rajgad and reached Pratapgad. This helped him to be closer to Afzalkhan's post and this also helped to boost the spirit of his army in the territory.
On part of Afzalkhan, although he wanted to avoid the interference of the Mughals, he knew he was not at an immediate loss if Shaistekhan reaches Deccan. He was mentally prepared to join hands with Mughals. In fact, he had also got a large number of traders, merchants and jwellers along with him, so that he can buy various gifts from them, as per the liking of the Mughal commanders to confirm the gesture of his friendship.
In other words, the urgency was more upon Shivaji than Afzalkhan and he had to do something to resolve the deadlock of their game before time runs out completely.
WHITE: Engage the opponent, distract the moves, bring out the opponent's king.
Soon after Shivaji moved to Pratapgad, Jijabai sent one of her trusted maids and her envoy to Afzalkhan. They had brought a plea from Jijabai. "Please spare my only son alive. As it is, he is afraid of you. We will surrender all our forts to you, and keep only a handful of land and a couple of forts for our livelihood. Spare our lives in return and help us reconcile with the Adilshah. I had sent my son to you for surrender, but he is so afraid of you, he stopped mid-way and has gone into hiding on Pratapgad. As an elder among the two, please be generous to invite Shivaji to you. Please have mercy on us and help us."
Afzalkhan knew that Shahaji had changed many sides and had caused many troubles, but he had never lied. Afzalkhan therefore had no reason to distrust Shahaji's wife. More than that, he could sense the cry of a mother for saving her son's life. Also, even though Jijabai was lying, it did not matter. All that Afzalkhan needed was one live encounter with Shivaji. He tried that encounter to be on a battlefield, and did not succeed. Now thanks to the mercy plea by Jijabai, he had a chance to have one-to-one encounter with Shivaji. His wish had come true. He was going to respond to Jijabai.
Another advantage of this dialogue was that it would pacify Shahaji, who was now ready with a force of 17,000 in Bangalore.
Afzalkhan replied to Jijabai assuring her that her son will not be harmed in any ways. Jijabai's envoy kept on visiting Afzalkhan for another couple of months, but Afzalkhan had not yet initiated any dialogue with Shivaji directly.
Finally, in the month of October, just after both the Diwali and Eid celebrations were over, Krishnaji Bhasker went to Pratapgad and met Shivaji on behalf of Afzalkhan. Shivaji told him that he is too frightened of Afzalkhan and his massive force and he does not want to risk going to Wai for meeting Afzalkhan. He urged Afzalkhan to come in person to Pratapgad and take him along to Wai and Bijapur.
Afzalkhan commended Krishnaji Bhasker for securing a meeting with Shivaji and told him to finalize the terms of meeting. Shivaji appointed Pantaji Gopinath as his correspondent and the talks to decide terms of meeting begun.
In around 15 days time, all the terms and conditions of the meeting were finalized and approved by both Shivaji and Afzalkhan. These terms were:
1. Meeting would take place on 10th November 1659. The meeting spot should have only four people - Afzalkhan, Krishnaji Bhasker, Shivaji and Pantaji Gopinath. All these men should be unarmed.
2. One bodyguard at a entrance of the meeting tent was allowed for both sides. While Afzalkhan nominated Sayyad Banda for this position, Shivaji chose Jiva Mahal.
3. Ten guards at a distance of 10 meters from the tent. All these ten people were identified at the time of agreement itself and their names were listed in the agreement.
4. At a distance of Arrows throw, Afzalkhan will have his 1,000 musketeers deployed. Shivaji would keep an equal number of men at the Pratapgad Fort entrance.
5. As Shivaji is the younger one, he should go to meet Afzalkhan. Thus, Afzalkhan was to be seated first in the tent.
6. Shivaji was to arrange for creating the tent of meeting, as it was his territory. [This clause helped Shivaji to select the meeting spot, which was of a strategic advantage to the Marathas. The tent was erected at a spot which was easily visible from the Pratapgad fort and when the Musketeers of Afzalkhan stood on the other side down the slope, they had no view of the tent.]
Shivaji also asked Afzalkhan to bring along the group of merchants with him, as he wanted to buy rich gifts for the Adilshah and Afzalkhan and there were not many places to shop around Pratapgad :-)
Thus it was, that with the play of words, Shivaji convinced Afzalkhan to meet him in the place of his choice and brought him out of his highly secured camp.
BLACK: Promotion of the Pawn.
Many historians have projected Afzalkhan's decision to agree on Pratapgad as a venue as his folly. When I think about it, I don't think that was the case.
Afzalkhan had an unit of Prataprao More [descendant of Chandrarao More] and around 3000 of his men on his side. These men knew the nooks and corners of Javali Basin and the region surrounding Pratapgad. All he had to do was use the knowledge of these men and get to Shivaji. Also, considering that when the battle broke out after the Shivaji-Afzalkhan meeting, Fazalkhan [son of Afzalkhan] and Prataprao More were among the first to reach Wai, I believe that they were already set to travel and the plan was always that when Afzalkhan comes down from Pratapgad, he will march out of the area with these handful of men. But then, that's just me.
Speaking of Afzalkhan, he saw no harm in taking a short guided Jungle tour, if he was going to get his hand on Shivaji and he decided to go for it.
The mistake he did was that he could not resist a show-off of his strength to Shivaji. He kept only 5000 soldiers of the infantry in Wai, as a reserve force and took along all his cavalry, infantry, artillery and musketeer units to the bottom of Pratapgad. While his earlier moves had failed to have the desired effect on the battle, this was the first mistake Afzalkhan did.
As a military general, he could not appreciate the fact that passing through the dense forest with so many camels, so many elephants, so many horses, so many cannons - big and small was simply exhausting - for both his men and the animals. Moreover, if you have such a thick tree cover around and if there is no open ground around, what use are the cannons? Where will the camels and horses ride with the cavalry?
But then, when a man gets down to a show-off, it's hard to stop him :-)
My belief is that Afzalkhan promised to return the Javali province to the Prataprao More and make him the next Chandrarao [king of Javali] for his services during the battle.
Thus, as Afzalkhan was sensing the climax of the game, he promoted a pawn to be the knight that would lead his entire army into the dense forest of Javali.
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