| Isma'il Beg | |
| Birth Date: | before 1738 |
| Death Date: | March 1794 |
| Allegiance: | Mughal Empire |
| Serviceyears: | 1767-1788 |
| Rank: | General |
| Commands: | General of the Mughal Army |
| Battles: | Delhi Rebellion 1788 |
Mirza Ismail Beg Hamdani (died March 1794) was a Mughal Commander of Persian origin. Son of Mirza Munim Beg and a kinsman of Mirza Najaf Khan, he along with his family fled Persia at the rise of Nadir Shah.[1]
Arriving in India many members of his family including him rose to high positions in the Mughal Empire. Initially a stalwart of the Marathas he would defect in 1790, in order to check the rising power of Mahadaji Shinde in the Mughal court.[2] [3] He would be defeated by the Marathas at the Battle of Patan whereafter he would flee to the Rajput kingdom of Jaipur and thereafter to Jodhpur.[4] He would go to Kanaud, later known as Mahendragarh and attempt to marry the widow of Najaf Quli Khan. Despite her initial approval, she later chose not to marry him. Ismail Beg fled to Madhogarh and when the Marathas received this intel, Khande Rao marched against Madhogarh where Ismail Beg was captured in 1792 and imprisoned thereafter in Agra Fort by the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. He was put to death by the orders of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II in March 1794.[5]