Shivaji Proclaims Himself King of the Marathas

Timeline

1. 1659Bijapur · DeccanBijapur Sultan Ali Adil Shah II dispatched his famous general Afzal Khan with about twelve thousand elite troops and heavy cannon northward to campaign against Shivaji. Afzal Khan destroyed Maratha temples along the way to provoke Shivaji into battle, hoping to annihilate him on open plains with superior numbers.
2. 1659Pratapgad Fortress · MaharashtraShivaji invited Afzal Khan to a private meeting for negotiations at the foot of Pratapgad fortress. When they met, Shivaji stabbed Afzal Khan to death with a concealed tiger claw (wagh nakh) and dagger, then signaled his ambushers. The pre-positioned Maratha forces launched a surprise attack on the Bijapur army, which collapsed instantly, with over three thousand killed and large quantities of cannon, war elephants, and supplies captured.
3. 1659Raigad · MaharashtraAfter his great victory at Pratapgad, Shivaji defeated Bijapur reinforcements again at the Battle of Kolhapur (December 1659), his fame astonishing the whole Deccan. He received his subjects' tribute as a conqueror, exercised rule as a de facto independent sovereign, and used a royal seal; the Maratha polity was thus established as an independent power on the Indian subcontinent. Though the formal coronation was postponed to 1674, 1659 was the substantive turning point of Shivaji's self-proclamation as king.