(d. 1659), Bijapur general. Afzal Khan was a brilliant seventeenth-century general in Bijapur (in the Indian state of Maharashtra). Afzal was sent by the sultan of Bijapur with an army of ten thousand men in 1659 to suppress the rising Maratha warlord Shivaji, who had conquered Bijapur lands in the Konkan and neighboring areas between 1646 and 1655.
Within two weeks, Afzal had reached Wai, driving all resistance aside; but meanwhile Shivaji was safely within the fort of Pratapgarh. As Afzal could not tempt him forth, he engaged in negotiations with Shivaji, calling for a conference between the two leaders. Shivaji went to this ostensibly unarmed but, fearing treachery from the Muslim general, he carried arms hidden on him. As the two men embraced, the stalwart general tried to throttle Shivaji; but Shivaji immediately killed Afzal by ripping his stomach open with the metal "tiger's claws" (baghnakh) Shivaji was carrying. The Marathas went on to defeat the Bijapur forces in battle, and this ended Bijapur's hostilities.
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