I know I have been adding up more and more chapters to this chronicle, but just before we enter the grand finale, it would be worthwhile to take a look at the preparations done by Shivaji for the meeting and it's after-events and also the instructions that he would have given to his men.
So, we know that a meeting was fixed between Shivaji Maharaj and Afzalkhan by their envoys. Terms of the meeting were agreed upon by both leaders and the date of this meeting was decided to be 10th November 1659.
Frankly speaking, I am aware that all readers know the output of this battle anyways - Afzalkhan was killed and his army was defeated in this battle. So, instead of providing too many historical details and references in this chapter, I am going to put forth my theory on what preparation was done by both Afzalkhan and Shivaji for the meeting and how these preparations materialized in to the actual battle of Pratapgad.
As I said, not all that you will read below can be found in the history books and has been said by the historians, but it is all that I have always imagined about the Pratapgad battle.
Preparations:
When the meeting was finally decided, both Afzalkhan and Shivaji had one common agenda - "to kill the opponent".
The biggest reason I see why Afzalkhan lost this battle was that he had only this ONE agenda. For him, his massive army was already spread across Pune, Vasota, Wai and the foothill of Pratapgad and it was just a matter of killing Shivaji before it was all over.
After agreeing for the terms of the meeting, the only preparation I think he did was to order his musketeers to accompany him and stay at an arrow's distance during the meeting; and to order Prataprao More to be with his sons, ready for departure, as soon as he descends Pratapgad after the meeting. Along with these, he would have ordered Sayyad Banda to be his backup in killing Shivaji. If Afzalkhan misses to kill Shivaji by any chance, Sayyad Banda was to act as a backup killer and assassinate Shivaji. Again, as I said, this is all as per my imaginarium, based on the facts and references I have been reading.
There is no actual reference which says Afzalkhan gave these specific orders, and it is my thought process which has linked the actual events that took place on the D-day with these orders. Another testimony about Afzalkhan's focus on only killing Shivaji is that he did not even care to wear any armour for self-protection. His mind was completely occupied by a single thought - Shivaji is going to meet him and he has to kill Shivaji. Nothing else matters.
On the other hand, Shivaji Maharaj had a threefold agenda - Kill Afzalkhan, defeat the massive army of Afzalkhan and the Siddi of Janjira, cover enough ground to be ready for the anticipated Shaistekhan campaign.
While Shivaji Maharaj had already created a backup arrangement for Maratha empire in case of his death during this battle; he also made sure that he shields himself from the anticipated attack. He wore an armor under his clothes and a helmet under his turban while going in to the meeting.
Moropant and Tryambak Bhaskar were moved with their infantry units from Mahad to the foothills of Pratapgad. These forces surrounded the left flank on Afzalkhan's army and were positioned very close to his artillery unit. Ragho Atre was given a Swift Cavalry unit of around 1000 men and these men had taken their positions around the Afzalkhan's army. Netaji Palkar was already stationed in Mahabaleshwar with his cavalry unit.
Kanhoji Jedhe's men of Infantry were also spread in the jungle of Javali surrounding the right flank of Afzalkhan's army. Kanhoji himself took along 300 men and he was positioned on the Pratapgad mountain, very close from the place where Afzalkhan's musketeer unit was to stand.
Apart from this, there were about fifty men deployed in the trees very close to Wai, such that they can ambush any incoming traffic.
All these men and the 11 bodyguards [10 + 1] accompanying Shivaji Maharaj had specific orders to be executed. Some of these orders were time-based i.e. these were supposed to be executed at a specific time - no matter what the output of meeting is, some of these orders had an IF-ELSE clause and depended on the outcome of meeting.
We will see more into what these orders were or would have been as per my theory, in the next section of this write-up.
Bottom-line is that Shivaji had not left anything to chance. He had provided specific instructions to his men, he had set specific protocols to indicate various events and he had prepared his army and himself for all eventualities. This attention provided to all aspects was what made Shivaji the winner of this battle.
Instructions:
While I have already mentioned about what would have been the only instructions Afzalkhan gave his men in relevance to his meeting with Shivaji, I would like to put forth my theory of instructions given by Shivaji to his men.
1. Jiva Mahal - Who was to accompany Shivaji Maharaj in to the meeting tent was entrusted with only one task - protect Shivaji at all costs and stay in the role of Shivaji's bodyguard at all times.
2. All the bodyguards deployed outside the meeting tent [except one] were instructed to attack their counterparts i.e. Afzalkhan's bodyguards, as soon as they see anyone coming out of the tent. It does not matter if it is Shivaji or Afzalkhan who comes out first; they were to strike fatal blows to opponents without wasting any time.
3. If Afzalkhan had thought of a backup plan to kill his opponent, so had Shivaji. In fact, he put forth two backup arrangements. Before we go into details, we should all understand the fact that both Shivaji and Afzalkhan had agreed to NOT carry any arms to the meeting. This made a backup arrangement for the killing a necessity for both Shivaji and Afzalkhan. Only difference is that Afzalkhan made the man standing with him in the tent responsible for the kill, while Shivaji made the men standing outside the tent responsible.
a. Sambhaji Kavji, one of the bodyguards outside the tent, was instructed to kill Afzalkhan, as soon as he comes out of the tent.
I know that people sing songs of heroic deed by Sambhaji Kavji and how he went after Afzalkhan to behead him, but think of this. If his king Shivaji had a danger of life, if ten of his peers were fighting the mighty opponents in Afzalkhan's army, why would Sambhaji leave his peers and go after Afzalkhan? He was risking the life of his fellow soldiers and the life of Shivaji Maharaj himself, by doing this act. Also, Shivaji himself did not tolerate any indiscipline on anyone's part and there is a strong evidence for this in form of the Prataprao Gujar episode.
So, I have always considered that Sambhaji went after Afzalkhan, because it was what he was instructed to do, by Shivaji, even before the meeting took place.
b. Shivaji had also placed his most trusted men just around Afzalkhan's musketeers. Their instructions were simple - If they see Afzalkhan descending from meeting place, form a wall between the musketeers and Afzalkhan and kill him before he reaches near his men. Instead, if they see Marathas descending down the meeting place, wait till their combat with Afzalkhan's musketeers begin and then make a surprise charge in to this battle, to gain advantage over the musketeers.
4. Netaji Palkar had a time based instruction. At a specific time, start from Mahabaleshwar and attack Wai. Keep some men in Wai to battle against Afzalkhan's army returning from Pratapgad and move forward to attack Vasota.
5. Moropant, Tryambak Bhaskar and Kanhoji's men in the jungle of Pratapgad were also to attack Afzalkhan's army a a specific time, taking them by surprise. Moropant was told to specifically target the artillery units and take rapid control over them.
6. Ragho Atre was supposed to make surgical strikes. His target was to rush in the Afzalkhan camp with his horsemen at a specific time and kill as many commanding officers of the cavalry as possible, making the massive cavalry unit to surrender, seeing their leaders dead.
7. A small unit of 50 men was entrusted with the task of ambushing any messengers and men who try to get out of Javali, and wanted to to break the news of attack to the forces in Wai. Alert troops at Wai meant trouble for Netaji and also availability of reinforcements for those fighting in Javali Basin. This had to be prevented.
Thus, with carefully laid out strategy, with pre-defined protocols to mark various events, with definitive instructions on the plan of action, with complete attention to self-defense, Shivaji prepared himself and his men for the battle which was coming soon.
So, we know that a meeting was fixed between Shivaji Maharaj and Afzalkhan by their envoys. Terms of the meeting were agreed upon by both leaders and the date of this meeting was decided to be 10th November 1659.
Frankly speaking, I am aware that all readers know the output of this battle anyways - Afzalkhan was killed and his army was defeated in this battle. So, instead of providing too many historical details and references in this chapter, I am going to put forth my theory on what preparation was done by both Afzalkhan and Shivaji for the meeting and how these preparations materialized in to the actual battle of Pratapgad.
As I said, not all that you will read below can be found in the history books and has been said by the historians, but it is all that I have always imagined about the Pratapgad battle.
Preparations:
When the meeting was finally decided, both Afzalkhan and Shivaji had one common agenda - "to kill the opponent".
The biggest reason I see why Afzalkhan lost this battle was that he had only this ONE agenda. For him, his massive army was already spread across Pune, Vasota, Wai and the foothill of Pratapgad and it was just a matter of killing Shivaji before it was all over.
After agreeing for the terms of the meeting, the only preparation I think he did was to order his musketeers to accompany him and stay at an arrow's distance during the meeting; and to order Prataprao More to be with his sons, ready for departure, as soon as he descends Pratapgad after the meeting. Along with these, he would have ordered Sayyad Banda to be his backup in killing Shivaji. If Afzalkhan misses to kill Shivaji by any chance, Sayyad Banda was to act as a backup killer and assassinate Shivaji. Again, as I said, this is all as per my imaginarium, based on the facts and references I have been reading.
There is no actual reference which says Afzalkhan gave these specific orders, and it is my thought process which has linked the actual events that took place on the D-day with these orders. Another testimony about Afzalkhan's focus on only killing Shivaji is that he did not even care to wear any armour for self-protection. His mind was completely occupied by a single thought - Shivaji is going to meet him and he has to kill Shivaji. Nothing else matters.
On the other hand, Shivaji Maharaj had a threefold agenda - Kill Afzalkhan, defeat the massive army of Afzalkhan and the Siddi of Janjira, cover enough ground to be ready for the anticipated Shaistekhan campaign.
While Shivaji Maharaj had already created a backup arrangement for Maratha empire in case of his death during this battle; he also made sure that he shields himself from the anticipated attack. He wore an armor under his clothes and a helmet under his turban while going in to the meeting.
Moropant and Tryambak Bhaskar were moved with their infantry units from Mahad to the foothills of Pratapgad. These forces surrounded the left flank on Afzalkhan's army and were positioned very close to his artillery unit. Ragho Atre was given a Swift Cavalry unit of around 1000 men and these men had taken their positions around the Afzalkhan's army. Netaji Palkar was already stationed in Mahabaleshwar with his cavalry unit.
Kanhoji Jedhe's men of Infantry were also spread in the jungle of Javali surrounding the right flank of Afzalkhan's army. Kanhoji himself took along 300 men and he was positioned on the Pratapgad mountain, very close from the place where Afzalkhan's musketeer unit was to stand.
Apart from this, there were about fifty men deployed in the trees very close to Wai, such that they can ambush any incoming traffic.
All these men and the 11 bodyguards [10 + 1] accompanying Shivaji Maharaj had specific orders to be executed. Some of these orders were time-based i.e. these were supposed to be executed at a specific time - no matter what the output of meeting is, some of these orders had an IF-ELSE clause and depended on the outcome of meeting.
We will see more into what these orders were or would have been as per my theory, in the next section of this write-up.
Bottom-line is that Shivaji had not left anything to chance. He had provided specific instructions to his men, he had set specific protocols to indicate various events and he had prepared his army and himself for all eventualities. This attention provided to all aspects was what made Shivaji the winner of this battle.
Instructions:
While I have already mentioned about what would have been the only instructions Afzalkhan gave his men in relevance to his meeting with Shivaji, I would like to put forth my theory of instructions given by Shivaji to his men.
1. Jiva Mahal - Who was to accompany Shivaji Maharaj in to the meeting tent was entrusted with only one task - protect Shivaji at all costs and stay in the role of Shivaji's bodyguard at all times.
2. All the bodyguards deployed outside the meeting tent [except one] were instructed to attack their counterparts i.e. Afzalkhan's bodyguards, as soon as they see anyone coming out of the tent. It does not matter if it is Shivaji or Afzalkhan who comes out first; they were to strike fatal blows to opponents without wasting any time.
3. If Afzalkhan had thought of a backup plan to kill his opponent, so had Shivaji. In fact, he put forth two backup arrangements. Before we go into details, we should all understand the fact that both Shivaji and Afzalkhan had agreed to NOT carry any arms to the meeting. This made a backup arrangement for the killing a necessity for both Shivaji and Afzalkhan. Only difference is that Afzalkhan made the man standing with him in the tent responsible for the kill, while Shivaji made the men standing outside the tent responsible.
a. Sambhaji Kavji, one of the bodyguards outside the tent, was instructed to kill Afzalkhan, as soon as he comes out of the tent.
I know that people sing songs of heroic deed by Sambhaji Kavji and how he went after Afzalkhan to behead him, but think of this. If his king Shivaji had a danger of life, if ten of his peers were fighting the mighty opponents in Afzalkhan's army, why would Sambhaji leave his peers and go after Afzalkhan? He was risking the life of his fellow soldiers and the life of Shivaji Maharaj himself, by doing this act. Also, Shivaji himself did not tolerate any indiscipline on anyone's part and there is a strong evidence for this in form of the Prataprao Gujar episode.
So, I have always considered that Sambhaji went after Afzalkhan, because it was what he was instructed to do, by Shivaji, even before the meeting took place.
b. Shivaji had also placed his most trusted men just around Afzalkhan's musketeers. Their instructions were simple - If they see Afzalkhan descending from meeting place, form a wall between the musketeers and Afzalkhan and kill him before he reaches near his men. Instead, if they see Marathas descending down the meeting place, wait till their combat with Afzalkhan's musketeers begin and then make a surprise charge in to this battle, to gain advantage over the musketeers.
4. Netaji Palkar had a time based instruction. At a specific time, start from Mahabaleshwar and attack Wai. Keep some men in Wai to battle against Afzalkhan's army returning from Pratapgad and move forward to attack Vasota.
5. Moropant, Tryambak Bhaskar and Kanhoji's men in the jungle of Pratapgad were also to attack Afzalkhan's army a a specific time, taking them by surprise. Moropant was told to specifically target the artillery units and take rapid control over them.
6. Ragho Atre was supposed to make surgical strikes. His target was to rush in the Afzalkhan camp with his horsemen at a specific time and kill as many commanding officers of the cavalry as possible, making the massive cavalry unit to surrender, seeing their leaders dead.
7. A small unit of 50 men was entrusted with the task of ambushing any messengers and men who try to get out of Javali, and wanted to to break the news of attack to the forces in Wai. Alert troops at Wai meant trouble for Netaji and also availability of reinforcements for those fighting in Javali Basin. This had to be prevented.
Thus, with carefully laid out strategy, with pre-defined protocols to mark various events, with definitive instructions on the plan of action, with complete attention to self-defense, Shivaji prepared himself and his men for the battle which was coming soon.
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