Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/329

 Chap. IV.] REIGN OF AURUNGZEBE. 295

The Regent of Bejapoor, fully alive to the extent of the danger, raised a large a.d. 106-2. army, and gave the command of it to a Mahometan noble of the name of Afzul Kiian. Tlie selection was unwise, for Afzul Khan, full of Mussulman pride, sevajee despised his enemy, and considered him.self sure of victory. Sevajee, well aware the Kenorai of the kind of opponent he had to deal with, took his measures accordingly, "f Hejui„"or. Pretending to be overawed by the very terror of his name, he sent a messenger to say that he had given up all idea of resistance, and was only anxious to arrange the terms of submission. After some preliminaries, it was agreed that a personal interview should take place. Sevajee meanwhile showed great alarm lest some undue advantage should be taken of him, and as the most effectual means of dissipating his fears, induced Afzul Khan to meet him at a secluded spot with only a single attendant. Sevajee advanced with a timid, hesitating air, dressed in a cotton tunic. He was apparently unarmed, but wore beneath the tunic a coat of mail, together with a dagger concealed in its sleeve, while within his clenched fist, and .,, attached to his fingers, were

sharp hooks of steel, known ,>^ ^ "^ by the name of "tiger's claws."

Afzul Khan, thrown com- ^^y^^'^i^^^^ pletely off* his guard while Sevajee humbly implored ,^^^ forgiveness, was in a moment

seized by the claws and stab- ' „. bed to the heart. His army,

•^ W AONUCK, OR TlOER 3 •'

which had shared in his over- *"*"" confidence, was at the same

time attacked on all sides by Mahrattas lying in ambuscade, and either perished by the sword or sought safety in flight. This atrocity was perpetrated in 1 659, the year after Shah Jehan had been dethroned; and owing to the condition both of the Mogul empire, where a civil war of succession was raging, and of the kingdom of Bejapoor, which was threatened with dissolution from external violence and internal dissension, was allowed to escape with impunity. In 1662, when peace was concluded, Sevajee remained in possession of territory stretching 250 miles along the coast between Goa and Bombay, so as to include tlie whole of the Concan between these points, and also extending about 150 miles above the Ghauts, from Poonah to Meeruj near the banks of the Kistna. Within tliis territory, notwithstanding the ruggedness and general infertility iiaituitie* of the surface, he was able to maintain an army of 7000 horse and 50,000 foot. .M..guia .-md

Aurungzebe after dethroning his father had confen-ed the viceroj'alty of the Deccan on his maternal uncle Shaista Khan, who arrived in 1662. and fixed his residence at Aurungabad. Hostilities had commenced between the Mogids and Mahrattas, and Sevajee had carried his ravages into the very heart of the Mogul province. Shaista Khan in consequence ]nit his forces in motion, and, driing the Mahrattas before him, gained possession of Poonah. Sevajee had retired to the hill-fort of Sin<xurh, about twelve miles to the south, and there lav watchinji

' This weapon is said by Sir R. Meyrick to have passed through the rings at the ends. The specimen been invented by Sevajee. The instrument is con- represented in our engraving is iu the museum of the cealed in the hand, the first and fourth fingers being East India Company.

Mahrattas.

%