e army of this prince, who, joined
by Muhammadan auxiliaries of the Lodi party, had advanced too, and
had encamped at Bisawar, some {41} twelve miles from Biana and some
sixty-two, by that place, from Agra. Babar advanced to Sikri, now
Fatehpur-Sikri, and halted. In some skirmishes which followed the
Rajputs had all the advantage, and a great discouragement fell on the
soldiers of Babar. He contented himself for the moment with making
his camp as defensible as possible, and by sending a party to ravage
Mewat.

Cooped up in camp, discouraged by the aspect of affairs, Babar,
uneasy at the forced inaction, passed in review the events of his
life, and recognised with humility and penitence that throughout it
he had habitually violated one of the strictest injunctions of the
Kuran, that which forbids the drinking of wine. He resolved at once
to amend. Sending then for his golden wine-cups and his silver
goblets he had them destroyed in his presence, and gave the proceeds
of the sale of the precious metal to the poor. All the wine in the
camp was rendered undrinkable or poured on the ground. Three hundred
of his nobles followed his example.

Sensible at length that the situation could not be prolonged, Babar,
on March 12th, advanced two miles towards the enemy, halted, and
again advanced the day following to a position he had selected as
favourable to an engagement. Here he ranged his troops in order of
battle. On the 16th the Rajputs and their allies advanced, and the
battle joined. Of it Babar has written in his memoirs a picturesque
and, doubtless, a faithful account. It must suffice here to say {42}
that he gained a victory so decisive,[4] that on the morrow of it
Rajputana lay at his feet. He at once pushed on to Biana, thence into
Mewat, and reduced the entire province to obedience. But the effects
of his victory were not limited to conquests achieved by himself.
Towns in the Duab which had revolted, returned to their allegiance or
were recovered. When the Duab had been completely pacified Babar
turned his arms, first, against the Hindu chiefs of Central India,
the leader of whom was at the time the Raja of Chanderi. He had
reached the town and fortress of that name when information came to
him that his generals in the east had been unfortunate, and had been
compelled to fall back from Lucknow upon Kanauj. Unshaken by this
intelligence, the importance of which he admitted, he persevered in
the siege of Chanderi, and