Editing Shivaji (section)

=== Combat with Afzal Khan ===
{{Main|Battle of Pratapgarh}}[[File:Death of Afzal Khan.jpg|thumb|An early-20th-century painting by [[Sawlaram Haldankar]] of Shivaji fighting the Bijapuri general Afzal Khan|left]]
[[File:Pratapgad (2).jpg|thumb|left|[[Pratapgad]] fort]]

The Bijapur Sultanate was displeased with their losses to Shivaji's forces, with their vassal Shahaji disavowing his son's actions. After a peace treaty with the Mughals, and the general acceptance of the young [[Ali Adil Shah II]] as the sultan, the Bijapur government became more stable, and turned its attention towards Shivaji.{{sfn|Gordon|1993|p=66}} In 1657, the sultan, or more likely his mother and regent, sent [[Afzal Khan (general)|Afzal Khan]], a veteran general, to arrest Shivaji. Before engaging him, the Bijapuri forces desecrated the [[Tulja Bhavani Temple]], a holy site for Shivaji's family, and the [[Vithoba Temple|Vithoba temple]] at [[Pandharpur]], a major pilgrimage site for Hindus.<ref name="Richards1995">{{cite book |author=John F. Richards |title=The Mughal Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA208 |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |pages=208–}}</ref>{{sfn|Eaton, The Sufis of Bijapur|2015|pp=183–184}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roy|first1=Kaushik|title=Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present|date=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-57684-0|page=202|language=en}}</ref>

Pursued by Bijapuri forces, Shivaji retreated to [[Pratapgad]] fort, where many of his colleagues pressed him to surrender.<ref name="Eraly2000">{{cite book |author=Abraham Eraly |title=Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyVW0STaGBcC&pg=PT550 |date=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-93-5118-128-6 |page=550}}</ref> The two forces found themselves at a stalemate, with Shivaji unable to break the siege, while Afzal Khan, having a powerful cavalry but lacking siege equipment, was unable to take the fort. After two months, Afzal Khan sent an envoy to Shivaji suggesting the two leaders meet in private, outside the fort, for negotiations.<ref name="Roy2012">{{cite book |author=Kaushik Roy |title=Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1IgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-57684-0 |pages=202–}}</ref>{{sfn|Gier, The Origins of Religious Violence|2014|p=17}}

The two met in a hut in the foothills of Pratapgad fort on 10 November 1659. The arrangements had dictated that each come armed only with a sword, and attended by one follower. Shivaji, suspecting Afzal Khan would arrest or attack him,{{sfn|Sarkar, Shivaji and His Times|1920|p=70}}{{efn|A decade earlier, Afzal Khan, in a parallel situation, had arrested a Hindu general during a truce ceremony.{{sfn|Gordon|2007|p=67}}}} wore armour beneath his clothes, concealed a ''[[bagh nakh]]'' (metal "tiger claw") on his left arm, and had a dagger in his right hand.{{sfn|Haig & Burn, The Mughal Period|1960|p=22}} What transpired is not known with historical certainty, mainly Maratha legends tell the tale; however, it is agreed that the two wound up in a physical struggle that proved fatal for Khan.{{efn|Jadunath Sarkar after weighing all recorded evidence in this behalf, has settled the point "that Afzal Khan struck the first blow" and that "Shivaji committed.... a preventive murder. It was a case of a diamond cut diamond." The conflict between Shivaji and Bijapur was essentially political in nature, and not communal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kulkarni |first1=A. R. |title=The Marathas |date= 2008 |publisher=Diamond Publications |isbn=978-81-8483-073-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N45LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT30 |language=en}}</ref>}} Khan's dagger failed to pierce Shivaji's armour, but Shivaji disembowelled him; Shivaji then fired a cannon to signal his hidden troops to attack the Bijapuri army.{{sfn|Haig & Burn, The Mughal Period|1960}}

In the ensuing [[Battle of Pratapgarh]], Shivaji's forces decisively defeated the Bijapur Sultanate's forces. More than 3,000 soldiers of the Bijapur army were killed; and one sardar of high rank, two sons of Afzal Khan, and two Maratha chiefs were taken prisoner.{{sfn|Sarkar, Shivaji and His Times|1920|p=75}} After the victory, a grand review was held by Shivaji below Pratapgarh. The captured enemy, both officers and men, were set free and sent back to their homes with money, food, and other gifts. Marathas were rewarded accordingly.{{sfn|Sarkar, Shivaji and His Times|1920|p=75}}