The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c12.s3.24

v4.c12.s3.24

Meanwhile Medinī Rāi, a Rajput chief, had established himself in Chanderī on the borders of Bundelkhand and Mālwā. Here he was besieged by Bābur. The garrison on the second day gave up all hope of resistance, and having put their women to death they rushed out naked to perish, but not to be captured (29 January, 1528). Humāyūn with a large contingent, taking advantage of Bābur’s promise made before the battle of Khānua that all who pleased might go on leave to Kābul, was now despatched to Badakhshān, while Bābur himself set out to punish Bīban, who had repulsed the Mughal army in Oudh and captured Lucknow. Crossing the Ganges Bābur speedily defeated Bīban and drove him into Bengal. Sultān Mahmūd Lodī, the brother of Ibrāhīm, had meanwhile occupied Bihār, and he now with a force of 100,000 men advanced on Benares, where he was put to flight. On 6 May, 1529, Bābur won his third great battle in India, at the junction of the Ganges and its tributary the Gogra, whence it has come to be known as the battle of the Gogra. In this engagement he was opposed by the Afghān chiefs who had taken up the cause of Sultān Mahmūd Lodī. Bābur gives a very detailed account of the campaign leading up to this battle, which reads like a diary kept from day to day. The progress of the battle itself, in which much use was made both of boats and of artillery, is, however, by no means easy to follow. As a result of this victory Bābur was joined by nearly all the Afghān chiefs and amīrs; and was able to conclude a treaty of peace with Nusrat Shāh, king of Bengal, by which he himself became sovereign of Bihār.