BABER. 
163 
invader, who was already flattering himself with the 
glories of a triumph, and put him to the rout. The 
confederates immediately dispersed, and Alla-ood- 
Deen retreated with only a few followers into the 
Punjab, now in possession of Baber. 
The defeat of his ally soon reached Cabul, and de- 
termined its sovereign to make a fifth attempt upon 
Hindostan. He accordingly set out for the last time 
on the seventeenth of November 1525, to complete 
the subjugation of that mighty empire. On the third 
of December he was joined by his eldest son Humaioon. 
During the march he amused the army by hunting 
the rhinoceros : two of these animals were killed. 
On the sixteenth he passed the Indus, and advanced 
along the skirts of the Sialkote hills. The winter was 
extremely severe, all the tanks and streams being 
frozen. This, however, did not check the progress of 
the invading army. Arriving at Sialkote, the king of 
Cabul was joined by Alla-ood-Deen Lody, and seve- 
ral amyrs. Dowlut Khan and his sons were at this 
time encamped near Lahore with forty thousand men ; 
but upon Baber’s approach they retired, the father to 
the strong fortress of Malwat, and his sons to the 
mountains. The former was immediately besieged in 
the place of his retreat, where he capitulated after 
sustaining a siege of only a few days, and Dowlut 
Khan was obliged to appear before the conqueror with 
two swords slung round his neck in token of his com- 
plete abjection. 
“ When he came to offer me his obeisance,” says 
Baber,* “ he affected delay in bowing. I directed 
* Memoirs, p. 298. 
