Chapter 1 The Tiger's Claws The great Bijapuri general Afzal Khan asked Shivaji for a truce so they could meet to agree terms for the Bijapuris to cease the conflict,' the bearded Maratha commander told his companion as they rode side by side through the Deccan hills to a council of war. 'Shivaji agreed to the truce and to the meeting but put no trust in Afzal Khan and so prepared carefully. He selected a clearing in some dense jungle beneath his hilltop fortress as the place to talk. Understanding Afzal Khan's vanity, he had a sumptuous silk-hung pavilion erected at its centre. He then had two pathways cut through the jungle to the clearing, one from his own fort and one from the direc- tion of Afzal Khan's camp. He wrote to his enemy that only such a magnificent setting could live up to a momen- tous meeting between two such great leaders and invited Afzal Khan to arrive first to enjoy the splendours. He did all this so he would know by which route Afzal Khan would come and to give himself an unobstructed view
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