New History of the Marathas v1.c17.93

v1.c17.93

Aurangzeb lacked the magnanimity of the Greek monarch Alexander. He had not the heart to tolerate the open insult he had received from his worst enemy, who in his eyes had sinned beyond hope of pardon. That very night Sambhaji's eyes were blinded and the next day the tongue of Kavi Kalash was cut out. Sambhaji stoically bore the tortures heaped upon him in order to extract his secrets. After a fortnight's torture and insult, the captives were removed with the imperial camp from Bahadurgad to Koregaon on the river Bhima and there put to a cruel and painful death on 11th March 1689, the Amavasya day of the month of Falgun, their limbs being hacked off one by one and their flesh thrown to the dogs. Their severed heads were stuffed with straw and exhibited in the chief cities of the Deccan to the accompaniment of drum and trumpet. These heads were later discovered in a thorny bush at the village of Vadu and secretly cremated by some kindly souls at Tulapur on a spot where the two rivers the Bhima and the Indrayani meet.