112 IILSTOKY OF JNIHA. fUooK I.
A.D. 1630 was rather less than a ,sliilliii<^, hut the a<^gregate kuiii must have been enormoufi. His prodigality on this occasion procured liini the nickname of "Callender," after a religious order whose rule is to make no ])rovision f<jr the morrow. iiaber makes Had Babcr becii intending, like Tamerlane, tf) ([uit India, this wjuandering pennaiient oi the trcasurv might easily have been explained, and even jastined, on grounds lusK tnoo ^^j. pQjj^,^, . i^^j^ ^jj^ folly of the proceeding seems extreme, when it is considered that he from the first regarded it as a permanent conquest, and determined to make Delhi his future capital. The question had midergone formal di.scassion after the capture, and many of his most expeiieuced officers, contrasting the smallness of his army with the threatening appearance which the Afghans still continued to present in various quarters, were urgent for his return to Cabool, or at least retreat to the Punjab; but he at once put an end to all their remon- strances, by exclaiming, " What would all the Mahometan kings in the world say of a monarch whom the fear of death obliged to abandon such a kingdom ! " Hisdiffitni- The idea of departure being abandoned, it required all Baber's skill and lUmgers. eiicrgy to make good his position Several Afghan competitors connected with the late i-oyal family were set np against him and sanguinary l:)attles were fought, generally, however, to his advantage. As a necessary consequence, liis cause advanced, while that of his enemies rapidly declined ; and many who had stood aloof with the intention of ultimately joining the winning side, made their submission. But his gi*eatest dangers were not in the field ; for tho.se who feared to encounter him there, cUd not scruple at any means wliich promised to be successful. (>ne of the most flagrant attempts made on his life was by the mother of Ibrahim Lody, the late .sovereign. She had become his captive, and he had treated her with great respect and kindness ; but the destruction which he liad brought on her family was not to be forgiven, and she bribed Baber's taster and cook to poison some hare-soup intended for him He actually par- took of it, but the poisoning having been overdone, affected the taste, and he desisted in time to save his life. Preiaatuve Baber was still in the full vigour of life, and might, in the course of nature,
old age and
<ieath. have been expected to have a long career before him ; but he had crowded the events of a lifetime into a comparativ^el}' short period and began to exhibit symptoms of a premature old age. Fever after fever attacked him ; and, lieginning to feel his end approaching, he sent for his son Hoomayoon, and appointed him his successor. A few months after, on the 21th of December, 1530, he breathed his last. He had reigned thirty-eight years, but of the.se only five were spent on the throne of Delhi. Considering the .shortness of the period, it is wonderful how much had been accomplislied in it. Not only had Afghan insurrections been put down, and the whole Mahometan population reconcileil to the new dynasty, Init great battles had been fought, and great victories gained over in.surgent Hindoos. After Mewar, M;ilwah, and Mewat had been subdued, Behar, on both sides of the Ganges, w;is overrun, and the
