Chap. V.] BABER'S SUCCESSES. 1 1 1
victory, till his own carelessness and the want of disci[)line turned it into a com- ad. 1526.
plete defeat, and obliged him to retire })recipitately into the Punjab. Baber, on hearing of the disaster, immediately bestirred himself, ami made his appearance in India. This was his fifth, and proved his most decisive Indian cam})aign.
His force was comparatively small. After crossing the Indus on the 1 oth Hater's of December, 1525, he mustered it, and found that he had only 10,000 chosen horse. At Sealkote, however, he was joined by Ala-u-din, and thus obtained a considerable reinforcement. The fii'st ajipearance of opposition was on the part of Dowlut Khan, and his son Ghazy Khan, who had again espoused the ciiuse of the King of Delhi, and were encamped on the banks of the Ravee, neiir Lahore, with an army of 40,000. They were afraid to risk an action, and, as Baber advanced, retreated — the former to Malwat, and the latter to the hilLs. Baber immediately invested Malwat, and obliged it to capitulate in a few (hiys. On this occasion he generously forgave Dowlut Khan, and exerted himself in restraining the rapacity of his troops, who, as soon as the gates were openeil, broke in, and commenced an indiscriminate plunder. Rushing in among them, he at great ]>ersonal risk rescued a lady belonging to Dowlut Khan's family, whom a ruffian had seized, and saved a fine library which had been collected by Ghazy Khan, who was a poet and a man of learning.
The dissensions which prevailed at Delhi, and the invitations wliich he capture ..r received from the malcontents, induced him to advance without delay. He Deii.i. experienced little serious opposition till Ibrahim himself advanced to meet him, at the head of 10,000 horse and 1000 elephants. Babers army was not a fifth of this number ; but every man in it was a soldier highly discii)lined, attached to his chief, and resolved to conquer or die; whereas the Delhi force was a hetei'ogeneous mass, composed of the most discordant materials. The result wjus not long doubtful, and Ibrahim him.self was among the slain. This battle, which wjis fought on the 20th of April, 1526, decided the fate of Hindoostan. Baber did not tail to make the most of his victory. He inmiediately despatched his son Hoomayoon to occupy Agi-a, and another detachment to march rapidly on Delhi, wliile he followed with the main body. His entrance wjis unopposed, and he took formal possession as sovereign. The fort of Agra offered some resistance ; but the terror of the Mogul arms was now so general, that the Rajpoots who defended it offered to capitulate. Instead of levying a ransom from individuals, Baber consented to accept of a diamond, weighing 672 carats, which he presented to his son Hoomayoon. On entering the Delhi treasur}', he appears to have been a,stonished at the amount, and immediately began to distribute it with the greatest profusion, as if he had imagined it inexhaustible. Not satisfied with making rich presents to all his chiefs, and even to the mer- chants who followed his camp, he made large donations to holy places in various countries, and caused a skarokh to be given to every man, woman, and child in the kingdom of Cabool, without distinction of slave or free. The gift to eiich
