Enlightenment · South Asia · War

1659

Afzal Khan Slain by Shivaji

1659

At the fortress of Pratapgad in the Western Ghats, the Maratha warrior Shivaji met the Bijapur general Afzal Khan in what was supposed to be a peace parley. Shivaji, concealing steel tiger claws in his fist, disemboweled the larger man in a single embrace. The ambush launched the Maratha Empire and became the stuff of legend.