Afzal Khan left his camp at Par with an escort of 1,000 soldiers. However, Shivaji's envoy Gopinath argued that such a large escort would scare Shivaji away from the meeting, and convinced Afzal Khan to bring only two soldiers to the meeting, just like Shivaji. Accordingly, Afzal Khan left most of his escort at a short distance from the meeting place, and came to meet Shivaji in a "palki", accompanied by five men: two soldiers, his expert swordsman Sayyid Banda, and the Brahmin envoys Krishnaji and Gopinath.