Aurangzeb and Muthu
During Aurangzeb’s time, Madurai was ruled by Muthu Veerappa Nayakar. Aurangzeb had sent a procession to south with his one shoe on top of an elephant. The order is, all the rulers should pay respects to this shoe by keeping it in the throne & pay a ‘handsome amount’ to the accompanying army. It was sort of a humiliating experience for the kings.
The procession went to Madurai to meet the Nayak king. At that time, Muthu Veerapar was at Trichy so it went to Trichy. The commander of the army went to the Sabha to meet the king along with the shoe which was carried in a golden plate. Muthu Veerapar took the shoe, threw it on the commander’s face & thundered “is your king a fool ? Why he had sent only one shoe for me. Ask him to send a pair”
The commander was red faced and asked the army to attack the Nayaks. But Muthu Veerapar was ready for that and decimated Aurangzeb’s army.
- https://twitter.com/tskrishnan/status/1751096193369977036
- https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/aurangzeb-and-his-massive-insult-by-a-south-indian-king-5def0a10b6e6
- Oriental Historical Manuscripts by William Taylor, published by Oxford university, 1835.