Fall of the Mughal Empire v4.c47.s1.1

v4.c47.s1.1

Ismail Beg had put his father Munim Beg in charge of Gokulgarh fort near Rewāri in November 1788, when he was working under Sindhia's orders. Early in 1790, Ismail quarrelled with Sindhia, and Munim Beg began to carve out an independent estate for himself round Rewāri. Joined by Gulāb Singh, the son of Mitrasen Ahir (the dispossessed zamindār of Rewāri), he began to plunder the wayfarers and tax-collectors and invade Kot Putli and other mahals where he levied contributions. At this time Sindhia was too busy fighting the Jaipur and Jodhpur Rajahs to send an adequate force against Munim Beg. Two battalions under a clerk of his service occupied Rewāri, but they were defeated and captured by Munim Beg and deprived of all their weapons and guns. This victory emboldened him to increase his force by enlisting the adventurers who flocked to his side. Like the robber-barons of Mediaeval Italy, he made his castle a centre of lawlessness in the country round and insecurity to traders on the highways.