178 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
mother of Ibrahim, the late sovereign, whom he 
treated with liberal distinction ; allowing her to re- 
tain all her property, and commanding the greatest 
respect to be paid to her by his own adherents, as 
well as by the nation generally. 
When Baber obtained the throne of Hindostan, there 
existed five distinct Mohammedan sovereignties, -and 
two Hindoo, besides several minor principalities, held 
by petty rajahs. The first sovereignty was possessed 
by the Afghan monarch, Sultan Ibrahim Lody, who 
resigned his crown with his life in the memorable 
battle just recorded ; the second was the extensive 
province of Guzerat, the third that of the Deccan, the 
fourth of Malwa, and the fifth of Bengal. These 
districts were respectively governed by Mohammedan 
sovereigns. The two most powerful Hindoo princes 
were the Rajahs of Bijanagur and of Chittore. They 
had, during the confusion caused by the unpopularity 
of the late Emperor of Delhi, availed themselves of 
the distraction in several neighbouring principalities, 
added them to their dominions, and threatened to be 
formidable foes to the new government. Baber saw 
that he should have much to do before he could ex- 
pect to be quietly settled in his foreign conquests. A 
new sovereign and a stranger is always looked upon 
with suspicion ; besides which, the vanquished Hin- 
doos had at no period been reconciled to the Moham- 
medan domination, and the haughty rajpoots were at 
all times ready to vindicate their rights with that fierce 
spirit of resistance which has ever placed them among 
the foremost foes of their conquerors, who have still 
left them unsubdued. 
