Having gathered a large army of mercenaries, he rebelled against the Ottoman sultan Selim III, and, acting as an independent ruler, he minted his own coins and had diplomatic relations with foreign states (including the French Republic). In 1798, he held territories which spread from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains and from Belgrade to Varna. In 1793, he undertook a military expedition to the Pashaluk of Belgrade but was soundly defeated by the Serbs in Ottoman service at the Battle of Kolari.