Battle of Pratapgad fought between Adilshahi General Afzal Khan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on 10 November 1659.
After starting from Bijapur, Afzal Khan began by destroying the temple of Bhavani at Tuljapur and Lord Vitthal temple at Pandharpur. He was trying to bring Shivaji Maharaj out of the mountainous areas he occupied and onto the plains, where Khan’s larger army trained and equipped for warfare on plain grounds would have an absolute advantage. Shivaji had encamped at Pratapgad fort, which, being located in a hilly area, was strategically advantageous for mountainous guerrilla warfare.
Unable to incite Shivaji Maharajto attack first, Afzal Khan moved his army to base of Pratapgad Fort. As he had once been the subedar of Wai, he had experience with the geography of the region. He tried to bolster his position by obtaining the support of the militarily independent landlords of the region.
Afzal Khan was assisted by the close confident Bada Sayyad, Fazal Khan, Ambarkhan, Yakutkhan, Siddi Hilal, Musekhan, Pilaji Mohite, Prataprao More and many more commanders of note. His forces consisted of 20,000 select Adilshahi cavalry, 15,000 infantry, 10,000 Afzal Khan personnel Cavalry, 5,000 Afzal Khan personnel infantry and 1,500 musketeers. He was accompanied by 85 elephants and 1,200 camels. His artillery consisted of 80-90 cannons. Siddi of Janjira was approaching from the Konkan coast.
King Shivaji Maharaj was assisted by Kanhoji Jedhe along with other Deshmukhs of Maval region namely Maral, Ramoji Dhamale, Krishnaji Pawar, Silimkar and Bandal. His cavalry was commanded by Netaji Palkar, and were placed in a forward position near the fort. Moropant Pingle was in command of 3,000 chosen infantry men, who were positioned in a densely forested area. Sambhaji Kavaji Kondhalkar, Yesaji Kank, Jiva Mahala and many other skilled military men were in charge of them. Kanhoji Jedhe assisted King Shivaji directly along with other commanders. In the meantime, Shahaji was ready in Bangalore with his army of 17,000 for a final Battle in case Shivaji and his forces were routed by Khan. He had warned Badi Begum of Adilshah that, if Afzal Khan and his Adilshahi forces killed Shivaji by Afzal Khan then there wouldn’t remain even a brick of the Adilshahi kingdom. These forces were being carefully watched by the Adilshah ultimately rebelled and over threw Adil Shah with in two months of battle and sacked Bijapur, Aurangabad among other cities
Shivaji sent an emissary to Afzal Khan, stating that he did not want to fight and was ready for peace. A meeting was arranged between Shivaji and Afzal Khan at a shamiyana (highly decorated tent) at the foothills of Pratapgad. It was agreed that they would bring only ten personal bodyguards each with them. All the ten bodyguards would remain ‘one arrow-shot’ away from the pair. Shivaji chose Sambhaji Kondhalkar, Jiva Mahala, Siddi Ibrahim, Kataji Ingle, Kondaji Kank, Yesaji Kank, Krishnaji Gayakwad, Surji Katake, Visaji Murambak & Sambhaji Karvar for the meet. Nevertheless, both were prepared for treachery: Afzal Khan hid a katyar (a small dagger) in his coat, and Shivaji wore armour underneath his clothes and carried a concealed wagh nakha in one hand.
As the two men entered the tent, the 6’7″ tall Khan embraced Shivaji. He then tried to strangle Shivaji in his vice-like grip and pierced his dagger in Shivaji. But the armour under Shivaji’s clothes saved him. Shivaji retaliated by using his “wagh nakh” (tiger claws) to slash Khan’s stomach and disemboweled Khan. Thereupon Afzal Khan’s bodyguard Bada Sayyed attacked Shivaji with swords but Jiva Mahala, Shivaji’s personal bodyguard fatally struck him down since the Maratha party came pre-planned for treachery. Afzal Khan managed to hold his gushing entrails and hurtled, faint and bleeding, outside the tent and threw himself into his palanquin. The bearers hastily lifted their charge and began moving rapidly away down the slope. Sambhaji Kavji Kondhalkar, Shivaji’s lieutenant and one of the accompanying guards, gave chase and beheaded Afzal Khan.
The severed head was later sent to Rajgad to be shown to Shivaji’s mother, Jijabai. She had long wanted vengeance for the deliberate maltreatment of Shahaji (Shivaji’s father) while a captive of Afzal Khan, and for his role in the death of her elder son, Sambhaji. Shivaji sped up the slope towards the fortress and his lieutenants ordered cannons to be fired. It was a signal to his infantry, hidden in the densely forested valley, to raid the Adilshahi forces.
Hand-to-hand combat of the forces
Maratha troops commanded by Shivaji’s captain Kanhoji Jedhe, swept down on Afzal Khan’s 1,500 musketeers; resulting in a complete rout of the musketeers at the foothills of the fort. Then in a rapid march, a section of Adilshahi forces commanded by Musekhan was attacked. Musekhan, Afzal Khan’s lieutenant, was wounded and subsequently fled the field.
Meanwhile, Moropant led the Maratha infantry toward the left flank of Adilshahi troops. The suddenness of this attack on Afzal Khan’s artillery at close quarters made them ineffective in providing artillery cover for the main portion of their troops. And as a result of this the rest of their troops rapidly succumbed to an all out Maratha attack. Simultaneously Shivaji’s Sardar (captain), Ragho Atre’s cavalry units swooped down and attacked the large but unprepared Adilshahi cavalry before they were able to be fully geared up for battle and succeeded in completely routing them in short order.
The Maratha cavalry under Netaji Palkar pursued the retreating Adilshahi forces, who were attempting to join up with the part of their reserve forces stationed in the nearby village of Wai. They were engaged in battle before they could regroup and were defeated prior to reaching Wai. The Adilshahi forces not withstanding the onslaught of the Marathas started retreating towards Bijapur. The Maratha army chased the retreating army and on their way captured 23 Adilshahi forts. In fact, the Adilshahi Killedar of the Kolhapur fort himself handed over the keys to the Marathas.
Khan’s death dealt the Adilshah’s rule a severe blow. A quarter of his territory, forts and a fifth of his army were captured or destroyed, while King Shivaji doubled his territory, losing a tenth of his army, within fifteen days of the Battle of Pratapgadh. Shivaji maintained his momentum, sending cavalry towards Kolhapur, which succeeded in capturing seventeen forts, including the prestigious fort of Panhala. Cavalry was also sent towards Dabhol and Rajapur under the command of Doroji Patil, which was successful in capturing forts in the southern Konkan.
This great,victory made Shivaji Maharaja hero of Maratha folklore and a legendary figure among his people. Having established military dominance and successfully beaten back a major attack by a powerful empire, Shivaji had founded the nucleus of what would become the Maratha Empire.
