A History of the Mahrattas v1.c12.31

v1.c12.31

But the *Sabhāsad Bakhar* distinctly supports Grant Duff. It states that Afzal Khān ‘sent for Krishnājīpant (i.e. K. Bhāskar), one of the envoys, and instructed him to go to Sivājī,’ and try to persuade him to agree to a personal interview with the Khān. Krishnājī may well have been an envoy from Sivājī, whom the Khān sent back with a message to his master, or he may, as Kincaid states, have been one of A. Khān’s officials, whom the Khān selected as his first messenger. Professor Sarkar calls him Afzal Khān’s ‘land-steward.’ Anyhow, the identity and behaviour of Pantojī Gopīnāth are in no wise doubtful. After describing Sivājī’s plans for ambuscading the Bijāpur forces, the *Sabhāsad Bakhar* proceeds: ‘In the meanwhile Pantojīpant, an envoy of the Khān, arrived. . . . At night Pantojīpant was sent for, for a secret conference at which the king (Sivājī) and Pantojīpant were alone present.’ It then details the bribery of the Khān’s envoy, and the treacherous manner in which the latter persuaded the Khān to comply with Sivājī’s plans as to the locale and circumstances of the interview. (Krishnājī Anant Sabhāsad’s *Life of Sivaji*, trans. Mānkar, pp. 9, 11, 12.)]