Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/271

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BATTLE OF THE GOGRA 219 keep the enemy busy while the artillery was being car- ried across, and a strong force was sent ahead to divert attention. The fifth division, under Babar himself, was to support Ustad Ali's batteries above the confluence, and then to cross the Gogra under cover of the guns; while the sixth went to the support of Mustafa's artil- lery on* the right bank of the Ganges. On Sunday and Monday, May 2 and 3, 1529, these two divisions. crossed the Ganges, and on Tuesday they marched on to the Gogra. Ustad Ali at the confluence was making excellent practice with his guns upon the Bengal vessels in the river. Meanwhile news came that Askari had got his divisions over the Gogra, and on the morning of Thursday, May 6, the battle began. The Bengal army, as was foreseen, moved up the river to meet Askari, and Babar at once ordered the fifth and sixth divisions to cross in any manner they could, swimming, in boats, or on bundles of reeds, and take the enemy in the rear. The movement was brilliantly carried out in the face of a determined resistance. At- tacked in front and rear and flank, the enemy broke and fled. Good generalship had once more guided valour to victory. The result was the collapse of the Afghan rebellion and the conclusion of a treaty of peace with Bengal. In three battles Babar had reduced Northern India to submission. It was his last exploit. The year and a half of life that remained to him he spent chiefly at Agra, endeavouring to set his new empire in order. For actual permanent organization, however, there was no time. A