A History of the Mahrattas v1.c12.44

v1.c12.44

The Sabhāsad Bakhar mentions three times that Afzal Khān’s object was merely to seize Sivājī and carry him prisoner to Bijāpur (Mānkar, pp. 8, 9, 12.) That Afzal Khān tried to wound Sivājī, while they were locked together, is possible. He may have suddenly awakened to his danger and sought the only means of self-protection. Anyhow, there is no evidence that the Khān premeditated murder, but rather the reverse. On the other hand Sivājī’s resolve to murder the Khān is only rendered more certain by the statement in this bakhar (Mānkar, 10), that ‘the goddess Bhowānī of Tuljāpur showed herself to him in a dream and assured him that she would help him in every way, saying that she would have Afzalkhān killed by him.’]