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The recent rebellion of Shambhuji had revealed the serious danger that threatened the newly founded Maratha kingdom. The character of his eldest son filled Shiva with the gloomiest anticipations of the future. A profligate, capricious and cruel youth, devoid of every spark of honour, patriotism or religious fervour, could not be left sole master of Maharashtra. And yet, the only alternative to Shambhu was Raja Ram, a youth of 18, whose accession would have meant a regency. But there was such mutual jealousy and discord among the old ministers of the State, especially between Moro Trimbak, the premier, and Annaji Datto, the viceroy of the West, that a council of regency would have broken up in civil war and the ruin of the State as surely as the Puna council of ministers did a century later. A division of the kingdom between the two princes was then contemplated, but the idea was very wisely given up. (Chit. 181-182; Sabh. 94, 102.)

Shivaji tried hard to conciliate and reason with Shambhu. He appealed to all the nobler instincts of the prince as well as to his self-interest, read him many a lecture, showed him his treasury, revenue returns, list of forts and muster-rolls, and urged him

we learn from Dilkasha that Bahadur Khan at this time besieged Ahivant without success. Hummuttgarh, therefore, seems to be Ahivant and not Himmatgarh or Hanumantgarh. If so, the Marathas had conquered Ahivant between April 1679 and March 1680.