Question

Shaista Khan escaped with the loss of three fingers from ____________.
A- Aurangzeb
B- Shivaji
C- Afzal Khan
D- Sambhaji

Answer 1

Hint
One of the most famous names of the Maratha Kingdom in India was this emperor. He carved out an enclave that established the genesis of the Maratha Empire out of the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur. He was officially crowned at Raigad in 1674 as the Chhatrapati (emperor) of his kingdom.

Complete answer:
Aurangzeb sent Shaista Khan, after his accession to the throne and the dramatic death of the terrorist Afzal Khan, to defeat Shivaji as Viceroy of Deccan with an immense army. Shaista Khan arrived in Aurangabad in January 1660 and rapidly advanced, capturing Pune, the centre of the domain of Shivaji. After hard combat with the Maratha, he also captured the Chakan Fort and Kalyan and northern Konkana. Afraid of Maratha's courage, Muslims were forbidden to reach the city of Pune and it turned out to be a mistake to distance Mughal from the locals.

Shivaji entered the Mughal camp in the early hours of the night (5 April 1663) through the main gate with 400 selectively chosen Mavles, saying that they were a party of Deccani soldiers of the Mughal army going in to relieve those who were already in command. It was Ramazan month. The Khan and his household had retired to their beds before midnight after breaking the fast of their day. The camp and the Mahal (once Shivaji's own palace) were enveloped in darkness as the moon set, with a few dim lights showing how people were stationed at different points. Shivaji secretly entered the palace with 50 men through a hole made behind the poor kitchen wall. They then charged into the bed-chamber, cutting the partitions of the cloth, hitting individuals in their beds, and making a loud scream that only added to the chaos. Shivaji and his group fled the scene and escaped to Sinhagad from where they had come, shouting, screaming and chaos all over. It was later discovered that while Shaista Khan had managed to save his life when he jumped out of the window, his forefingers were cut off by the blow of Shivaji's sword.

Therefore the correct answer is B

Note
The current Lal Mahal was restored by the PMC. Construction started in 1984 and was carried out in 1988. Historically, the Lal Mahal is famous for an incident between Shivaji and Shaista Khan where Shivaji cut off the latter's fingers as he tried to escape from the window of the Lal Mahal.