al important nobles, impatient even of nominal obedience,
resolved, acting in concert, to assign to his son, Ibrahim, the
kingdom of Delhi only, and to divide the rest of the deceased
Sultan's dominions amongst themselves, Jaunpur alone excepted. This
province was to be assigned to the younger brother of Ibrahim, as a
separate kingdom, in subordination to Delhi. It would appear that
when the proposal was first made to him, Ibrahim, probably seeing no
remedy, assented. Upon the remonstrances of his kinsmen, Khan Jahan
Lodi, however, he withdrew his assent and recalled his brother, who
had already set out for Jaunpur. The brother refused to return. A
civil war ensued in which Ibrahim was victorious. On the death of his
brother, in 1518, Ibrahim endeavoured to assert his authority over
his ambitious nobles. They rebelled. He quelled the rebellion. But
the cruel use he made of his victory, far from quenching the
discontent, caused fresh revolts. The nobles of Behar, of Oudh, of
Jaunpur, flew to arms: the Punjab followed the example. The civil war
was conducted with great fury and with varying fortunes on both
sides. It was when the crisis was extreme that Allah-u-din, uncle of
Sultan Ibrahim, fled to the camp of Babar, then engaged in the
pacification of the Kandahar districts, and implored him to place him
on the throne of Delhi. Almost {30} simultaneously there came to the
King of Kabul a still more tempting offer from Daolat Khan, Governor
of Lahore, and who was hard pressed by Ibrahim's general, begging for
assistance, and offering in return to acknowledge him as his
sovereign. Babar agreed, and marched at once in the direction of
Lahore.

* * * * * * *

The foregoing sketch of the internal condition of India during the
five centuries which had elapsed since the invasion of Mahmud of
Ghazni will explain, I hope sufficiently clearly, how it was that
none of the successive dynasties had taken root in the soil. Whether
that dynasty were Ghaznivi, or Ghuri, or Tughlak, or Saiyid, or Lodi,
the representative had fought merely for his own hand and his own
advantage. The nobles of the ruling sovereign had in this respect
followed the example of their master. Hindustan had thus been overrun
and partly occupied by the feudal followers of chiefs, who in turn
owed feudal allegiance which they would or would not render,
according to the power and capacity of the supreme lord. There had
been no weldin