Afzal Khan (general)

Afzal Khan (died 20 November 1659) was a general of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur Sultanate in the Deccan of India. He played an important role in the southern expansion of the Bijapur Sultanate by subjugating the Nayaka chiefs who had taken control of the former Vijayanagara territory.

In 1659, the Bijapur government sent Afzal Khan to subjugate Shivaji, a former vassal who had rebelled against the Bijapur government. He was killed at a truce negotiation meeting with Shivaji, and his army was defeated at the Battle of Pratapgad.

Amid the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Bijapur government campaigned against the Nayaka chiefs who had taken control of the former Vijayanagara territory. One of these chiefs was Virabhadra, the Nayaka of Ikkeri. Kenge Nayaka (or Keng Nayak), the chief of Basavapattana and a discontented tributary of Virabhadra, helped the Bijapur army capture Ikkeri in exchange for 1,00,000 rupees, forcing Virabhadra to flee to Bednur. Subsequently, the Bijapur government decided to capture the forts of Adoni and Tadipatri, which were ruled by friends of Kenge Nayaka. Kenge Nayaka suggested that the march to these areas was difficult, and instead advised Bijapur to capture Bangalore. In exchange for this advice, Kenge Nayaka demanded the fort of Sira, which was located on the way to Bangalore.

The Bijapur commander Randaula Khan sent a force led by Afzal Khan to capture Sira. Kasturi Ranga Nayaka, the commander of Sira, came out of the fort to negotiate with Afzal Khan, but Afzal Khan killed him. The defenders closed the fort gates before Afzal Khan could enter the fort, but Afzal Khan's contingent was soon reinforced by the main Bijapur army led by Randaula Khan. The Bijapur army captured the fort, and handed it over to Kenge Nayaka, while sending the captured wealth to Bijapur. Kenge Nayaka subsequently switched his allegiance to Bangalore, but then re-joined Bijapur, and convinced the Bangalore ruler Kempe Gowda to surrender his fort to Bijapur.

Randaula Khan then invaded Mysore, whose ruler Kanthirava Narasaraja I negotiated peace by paying 500,000 huns (currency unit) to Bijapur. Subsequently, Kenge Nayaka rebelled against Bijapur, and asserted independence at Basavapattana, where he raised an army of 70,000 soldiers to guard the fort. Randaula Khan then formed an alliance with his former overlord Virabhadra, the former Nayaka of Ikkeri, and besieged Basavapattana. Afzal Khan, along with Shahaji and some commanders of African origin, was deployed at the main gate of the Basavapattana fort. He entered the fort after a fierce battle, killed the guards, and captured the qasba – the central part of the fortified town. Kenge Nayaka then launched three successive attacks against him, but Afzal Khan forced him to retreat. Encouraged by Afzal Khan's successes, the Bijapur forces attacked Kenge Nayaka's contingent from both sides. After losing 3,700 soldiers, Kenge Nayaka surrendered the fort, and agreed to pay Bijapur 4 million huns. He was imprisoned, and later killed for attempting to bribe a guard for his release.

Bijapur's victory over Kenge Nayaka frightened the other Nayakas of present-day Karnataka into accepting Bijapur's suzerainty. Randaula Khan sent Afzal Khan to capture Chikkanayakana Halli, whose chief (raja) offered to accept Bijapur's suzerainty. The chief was allowed to keep control of the town (qasba) in exchange for 20,000 huns, but Afzal Khan took control of the fort. Afzal Khan then besieged the fort of Belur, joined by the main Bijapur army. After a four-month long siege, the local chief Venkatapati started peace negotiations, offering to cede the fort of Sakrepatna near Belur. Ultimately, he became a vassal of Bijapur, as did the Nayaka of Tumkur.

Afzal Khan is best remembered for his campaign against Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the kingdom that later evolved into the Maratha Empire. This campaign, which resulted in Afzal Khan's death, came to be highly celebrated in the Marathi literature. The earliest sources that describe the episode include:

Shivaji was a son of the Bijapur's general Shahaji, who had fought alongside Afzal Khan. He administered Shahaji's fiefs in the Pune region, and had started acting independently of the Bijapur government. He had captured territories ruled by other subordinates of Bijapur, and had negotiated with the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who had invaded the Bijapur Sultanate. Shivaji claimed to be a loyal servant of Bijapur, but the Bijapur government doubted his loyalty. During much of the 1650s, the Bijapur government had been unable to take any steps against Shivaji because it was busy dealing with the Mughal invasion, internal factional politics, and a succession dispute. After a peace treaty with the Mughals, and the general acceptance of Ali Adil Shah II as the king, the Bijapur government became more stable, and turned its attention towards Shivaji.