Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c47.8

v4.c47.8

The fame of Ismail Beg drew to his standard crowds of needy adventurers and rebels against the lawful Government in that country and unemployed soldiers of fortune from Kābul and Qandahār then roving in India. He thus grew into a threat to all lawful Governments and the safety of the population. But the Gaekwār’s Government took strong measures of defence, mobilised its forces on the frontier, and wrote to the Peshwā to move Sindhiā to put pressure on the Jodhpur Rajah for the recall of Ismail Beg. The news of these preparations alarmed Ismail Beg and he turned north-west towards Cutch, in order to respect the Gaekwār’s territories. Some battles were fought by him with the local chiefs, especially at Thārad. But his army was about to break up for want of money. Moreover, the Jodhpur minister in his camp threatened to withdraw with his contingent if Ismail violated the territory of the Gaekwār, which the Jodhpur Rajah was determined to respect. The invasion came to an end in the middle of August, when news arrived that the Marwār prime minister Khubchand Singhavi had been murdered at the capital with his son and two nephews and his entire family thrown into prison. Khubchand’s brother Shivchand, who commanded the Marwār contingent with Ismail, immediately retreated homewards with his men, and Ismail followed him to Sānchor. (Baroda Records, III. No. 44 and 46.) Mahādji Sindhia, acting under orders from Punā, wrote to Rajah Bijay Singh (early in September) to recall Ismail Beg from the Gujrāt frontier to his own country and keep him under watch.