Abbé Carré

"The court and the affairs of the Bijapur kingdom were, at this time, in a flourishing state. An ambassador from the Great Mughal had just arrived…After some days of rejoicings and fetes, the ambassador was conducted to the Hall of Audience, where the young King of Bijapur was already seated on his throne…He then told them that the Great Mughal, his master and the sovereign of all India, had sent him to convey his felicitations on the fine and illustrious government of this state, and as their kingdom was so powerful and rich, to ask for their cooperation, so as to increase their glory, which should always be the principal aim of the princes and nobles. It was fortunate that they could now justly undertake an unavoidable war at a time when there were no internal troubles. It was shameful to see the daily successes of Prince Shivaji, who, from being a simple minister of state in this same kingdom of Bijapur [Shivaji was never minister in Bijapur, his father entered service in the state in 1636], had risen today to such high fortune and grandeur that all the other Indian powers trembled before him. He had become master of the best part of this kingdom, namely its coasts and maritime frontiers. He had pillaged and sacked the richest towns of his king, the Mughal; he had taken the strongest places of the country; and no rivers, mountains, or forts, had yet been able to stem the progress of his enterprises and plans. Finally, if these ravages and continual successes were not opposed, he would become the most powerful king in the Orient. It was necessary, therefore, for them to provide the force of 14,000 horse and 10,000 foot, demanded by his master, the Great Mughal, in order to make a determined attack on the coastal towns and other places usurped by him, while the army of the Mughal would march against Shivaji from another side. To finance this war, they could use the amount of the annual tribute, a considerable sum which they were obliged to pay the Mughal."

"After the audience Khawass Khan summoned the princes and nobles several times to discuss this demand. They held many councils, and found the ambassador’s proposals to their advantage. They decided on war and appointed many generals and officers, who were at once sent on every side to raise levies of soldiers as soon as possible, so that in next to no time the town of Bijapur was in a tremendous uproar. The place was not large enough to train the cavalry which arrived from all parts. One heard nothing in the streets but the noise of drums and trumpets, and the shouts of these martial heroes. Each vizir and general armed his elephants in such a way as to make an appalling noise. They had war-machines on their backs with chains and other iron instruments, which are used in battle by these formidable animals at the will of those who ride them. The rich trapping of gold, silver, and precious stones, displayed on harness, arms and other equipment, seemed more in keeping with some great fete, tournament, or public procession than with a war."

"Prince Shivaji did not lack information from his secret intelligence, which he had all over India. He made little of all these preparations and plans against him, and like a second Alexander, told his soldiers that the more his enemies had of luxury, splendid appointments, and gorgeous trappings, the less mettle and courage they would have; and that he preferred to see his men covered with iron and steel, which are the true ornaments of every soldier. Moreover, he had so many ruses and tricks that his enemies had great difficulty in avoiding them. His plans were never known and, when he was thought to be in one place with all his forces, he surprised everyone by a venture quite the opposite to the one expected. He had for some months been at the gates of Surat, whence most people had fled. It was considered certain that from there he would make for Ahmadabad, one of the richest and most powerful Mughal towns; and at a time when the assurance of his march thither was causing great alarm in those places, everyone was amazed to hear he was at the gates of Golconda [1672], where he summoned the king to send him two millions of pagodas, or else to come out and fight in order to prevent his victorious entry into the capital and its delivery to his army for pillage. The King of Golconda was so terror-struck that he at once sent the sum of money demanded. He was in no state even to defend his royal town, where only merchants and court gallants were available, all his forces being engaged in the siege of St. Thome against the French. The latter fact was well known all over the East, and gave Prince Shivaji the opportunity of making this coup d’etat. He was advised to take this course on account of the help it would give the French, with whom he was very friendly, for by reducing the finances of the king he would deprive him of the principal means of continuing his war against them."

"After this exploit Shivaji, despising all the expeditions and armies that were being prepared against him, withdrew to his own country, and, as a diversion, visited all his places and fortresses where provisions and munitions of war were kept. Most of them were so strong, steep and inaccessible that only a faithful governor and a small garrison were needed to defend them against the most powerful Eastern forces. Shivaji thought so little of the Bijapur state’s warlike preparations against him that he left at once with a flying camp and conquered some frontier posts of that kingdom, which are so near Goa that only a river separates them [raid on Kanara 1673]. The Portuguese are very uneasy at finding themselves neighbours of this powerful and redoubtable prince, who presses them so closely on every side that they can hardly leave their towns without entering his territories; and Shivaji thus threatens to complete their abasement."

"We arrived at Abdelpour [Afzalpur] a little before nightfall after a whole day’s march. It is a delightful town, situated in a fertile lowland with large meadows watered by a stream, which flows through the sluice of a large reservoir above the town: its water is confined by a curved embankment faced with stone, a work which well shows the power and magnificence of its builder, the nobleman of the place [Afzal Khan]. He was one of the greatest warriors and best generals in the kingdom of Bijapur in the reign of its rightful king, who was poisoned by his unfaithful wife [in the reign of Muhammad Adil Shah, 1626-56]. This governor was indeed a powerful and courageous vizir, who had done many splendid things for the good of the kingdom. Later on he retired to this town of Afzalpur, which had been granted to him, and lived here in great state and comfort in a magnificent castle. He was at ease here when the last Bijapur king sent an army against Prince Shivaji under Rustam Zaman, governor of Onquery [Hukeri]. He was summoned to the court and made a general of 15,000 horse, which were again sent to fight Shivaji. He resolutely promised the king to conquer the enemy or die in the attempt. But before leaving he committed an act, which was the most cruel and detestable it is possible to imagine. This man, like all those orientals whose chief pleasure in the world is to pass their lives among flocks of women, and being one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom, had a fine seraglio of 200 women, to whom he was so passionately attached that he could not bring himself to leave them. Inspired by a mad jealousy, he resolved that no one else should see or enjoy the treasures he guarded so dearly, in the event of his death in battle. Therefore, when the time for his departure came, he left the court and went to Afzalpur to settle his household affairs. He stayed there three days, shut up in his seraglio, to feast and disport himself for the last time with his wives. He then actually had them all murdered and thrown into a fire, which he had prepared for this purpose in the middle of his palace. After this noble exploit, which was the last of his life, he left without any remorse, breathing fire and slaughter against the enemy. They soon made him rue this infamous cruelty towards a sex from whom he had always received favours, submission, and a blind obedience to his will."

"Prince Shivaji, who had received warning of his march, went to meet him and placed all his forces in a favourable position to await attack. Both armies were in sight of one another; and the two generals, the most valiant warriors in the East, did wonders in moving their squadrons so as to seize hills and other points of vantage. The whole country swarmed with cavalry, elephants, camels carrying thousands of standards, to which each company could rally. Shivaji, on his side, encouraged his men by voice and action, showing himself in every part of his camp. In passing down their ranks, he urged them to remember that they were soldiers, brothers in arms, and companions in fortune, of the great Shivaji; that they must never fear enemies whom they had beaten so often, and who were more ready to retreat in an emergency than to attack and give a good account of themselves. He added that, if the enemy’s general was once the bravest man in the kingdom and had won great victories, it was at a time when he cared only for the art of war; now he had embraced another sort of life amid the pleasures and delights of the world, so that he had lost all his former redoubtable qualities, and become cowardly and effeminate. Shivaji’s soldiers were roused by his speech, and the camp rang on all sides with shouts and acclamations, which struck terror and panic into the hearts of the most courageous of their opponents. The latter knew that they had to do with an army which had made every oriental power tremble by reason of its ever increasing victories and conquests. They shivered at the mere sight of these terrible people, against whom they fought more unwillingly than they would have done against another less redoubtable army."

"Both sides were awaiting the signal to attack, when two heralds were seen issuing from Shivaji’s camp. They asked the general to come for a quarter of an hour’s interview with that prince, who wished to communicate something of importance before the battle commenced. The general agreed to this, and it was arranged that they should both meet, unarmed, between the two armies with an escort of only two soldiers, who were to stand a little aside, so as not to hear the conversation. Shivaji spoke first and said to the other that he was well aware of his valour, his merits, and the glory he had acquired in his warlike career; also he had not forgotten the many courageous actions that had won him such a splendid reputation in his kingdom. Therefore he had been compelled to bring all his forces against him, in order to have the glory of vanquishing such a fine army as his, as he had no doubt of doing. But the real reason for which he had requested the interview before the battle was to demand the dismissal of a man in that army who did not merit the glory and honour of a soldier’s death. The general, astonished at Shivaji’s speech, asked who was the man that he wished to exclude from the glory of battle. “It is yourself, sir,” he replied, “you, who have lost all your former glory and the reputation you had acquired by your arms through your last action in massacring and burning two hundred poor women in such a brutal, inhuman and cowardly manner. You do not deserve to be conquered by force of arms, but rather to be chastised and punished in a manner worthy of your infamous action.” He then drew a poisoned knife, which he had hidden in the folds of his belt, and plunging it three times into his body, stretched him dead at his feet."

"Shivaji’s generals, who had been given this coup for a cue, then charged the enemy so promptly that the first squadrons were cut in pieces, and the rest, being panic stricken, surrendered to their conqueror. The general’s son and six of his principal officers were taken prisoner and brought to the king. They begged for quarter for the rest of their troops, who were being massacred without mercy. Shivaji then stopped the carnage and, having surrounded the rest of the enemy, promised them quarter and good rewards, if they would enter his service and swear an oath of fidelity. They were all delighted, and with one voice declared that they would be glad to fight, and pass the rest of their lives, under the standard of the greatest captain in all the East. He accordingly reinstated all the captains and officers in their appointments, and returned victorious from a battle in which he had lost but few of his own men. Before leaving the field, he ordered some camp-followers of the enemy to take the body of their general, which he made them honourably place in one of his palanquins, after covering it with black [Afzal Khan’s decapitated head was taken to Shivaji’s fort at Pratapgarh and buried there]. He sent it to the nearest town, to which some companies of cavalry had fled. They joined the cortege and escorted it to Afzalpur, where a magnificent tomb was erected for him on the very spot where his unfortunate wives had been buried."