New History of the Marathas v1.c9.66

v1.c9.66

The Khan was entirely lulled into the belief that he could easily gain his object without recourse to open fight. Most of the Deshmukhs in those parts were being led by Kānhoji Jedhe and turned hostile to Afzal Khan. The Khopde Deshmukh alone was unfriendly to Kānhoji, having openly sided with Afzal Khan and promised to him that he would manage to capture Shivaji alive.⁵ Under these circumstances the Khan directed his efforts to inducing Shivaji somehow to come out. He spread out his troops through all the open spaces of the district with instructions to capture Shivaji if he ventured out. Shivaji was fully alive to these plans, being well posted with timely news of every move of his enemy. He stationed his own select bands in various secret recesses unobserved by the enemy and ready for any emergency. Pantāji Gopināth with his sweet tongue and animated asseverations managed to induce the Khan to come to the foot of the Pratāpgad fort for a meeting with Shivaji. The Khan was quite confident of his superior personal strength. Pantāji Pant assured the Khan that once they met, Shivaji would follow him wherever he was wanted. In this way a meeting was finally agreed upon in a situation and under conditions in which Shivaji became the master and the Khan the dupe.