Theforeign relations of theMughal Empire were characterized by competition with thePersian Empire to the west, theMarathas and others to the south, and theBritish to the east. Steps were taken by successive Mughal rulers to secure the western frontiers of India. TheKhyber Pass along theKabul-Qandahar route was the natural defence for India, and their foreign policy revolved around securing these outposts, as also balancing the rise of powerful empires in the region.[1]
During the break up of theTimurid Empire in the 15th century, theOttomans inTurkey, theSafavids inPersia and theUzbegs in central Asia emerged as the new contenders of power. While the Safavids wereShia by faith, Ottomans along with Uzbegs wereSunni. The Mughals were also Sunni and Uzbegs were their natural enemies, who causedBabur and other Timurid princes to leaveKhurasan andSamarqand. The powerful Uzbegs who held sway over central India sought an alliance of Sunni powers to defeat the Shia-ruled Persia, but Mughals were too broadminded to be driven away by the sectarian conflicts. The Mughal rulers, especiallyAkbar, were keen to develop strong ties with Persia in order to balance the warring Uzbegs. Thus, the foreign policy of Mughals was centred around strengthening their ties with Persia, while maintaining the balance of power in the region by keeping a check on the evolution of a united Uzbeg empire.[1]
The Mughal emperors were generally enthusiastic with their donation with the Shariff ofMecca.[2]
Mariam-uz-Zamani, wife of emperorAkbar, built a massive trading ship namedRahīmī for trade and Haj pilgrims at the Khizri Darwaza on theRavi River. This place was later renamed by MaharajaRanjit Singh as Sheranwala Darwaza.[3][4] The Rahimi was homeported inSurat but often traveled toJeddah, the port nearMecca on the Red Sea, where she carried merchandise for the vendors of the holy city and trafficked in pilgrims on various parts of their journey.[5] The successor of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, also owned a trading ship bigger than Rahīmī,Ganj-i-Sawai, which mainly purposed for annual Hajj pilgrimage travel from India to Hejaz.[6]
Another example was the Mughal emperor appointing an official title of "Mir Haj" in 1577 with 500,000rupee and 10,000Khil'lat for attribution for the Shariff, and distributing many more to the peoples of Mecca andMedina (which usually calledal-Haramayn, or two holiest city inIslam religion). Aside from minted coins, the Mughals also gave more non currency gifts such as candlestick studded with diamonds , which estimated as 100 carats according to some historians. At one point, the Shariff of Mecca also exchanging gift with the Mughal by giving themArabian horses, high quality swords, and some sacred relics.[2]
Mughal chroniclerMuhammad Saqi Musta'id Khan has recorded in his work,Ma'asir-i-Alamgiri, that emperorAurangzeb, who known for his strict observance of Islamic teachings. Aurangzeb also has reportedly shipped twoQuran manuscripts which personally transcribed by himself to Medina as gifts. Rishad Choudhury interprets the phrase “ba-masāba hajj-i kobra būd” in theMa'asir-i-Alamgiri to suggest that Aurangzeb’s patronage of theHajj through financial support, Quranic offerings, and salaried delegates was considered spiritually equivalent to performing the pilgrimage himself.[7]
The Mughal empire had developed relationships with Europeans such as British, Portuguese, Russia, and France.
Mughal relations with the British in the 16th century were quite difficult, as local Mughal officials usually exploited theEast India Company, who responded the Mughal's harmful policies towards the British interest with harassing the Mughal vessels at the sea.[8] The Mughals, with dominant military power in India, usually responded with threats, which caused the EIC to cease hostilities and both sides returned the status quo relationship.[9]
TheEast India Company persuaded King James to sendThomas Roe as a royal envoy to theAgra court of the GreatMughal Emperor,Jahangir.[10] Roe resided at Agra for three years.[11]
Together with Thomas Roe,William Hawkins, captain ofHector, a first company ship, arrived at Surat in India on 24 August 1608. William travelled to Agra to negotiate consent for a factory from Emperor Jahangir in 1609.[12] Hawkins even gained trust from emperorJahangir and was appointed asMansabdar or military governor of Mughal territories. Hawkins himself has provided records about the details about the administrations of Mansabdar, where during his life, he has recorded about 41 names of Mansabdar officers who commanded about 3,000-5,000Zat or horsemens.[13]
Until 161, Roe allegedly gained favor of emperor Jahangir and may have been his drinking partner; certainly he arrived with gifts of "many crates of red wine"[14] However, It was thought that Roe's political career in the Mughal court also ended due to a report about roe's drinking habit reached Jahangir, who strongly forbade wine in his court. This incident caused Roe to fell from favour of Jahangir.[15]
The Mughal empire also recorded to establish relationship the Dutch,[16] particularly with their trading companyDutch East India Company, as shown when the Dutch has established their embassy within Mughal empire. The company representative, Van Adrichem, was presented with Arabian horses, a red cloth, green cloth, lacquered palanquin, Japanese drawer, several Japanese boxes, a Venetian made mirror, two Japanese shields, and couple of exoticBird-of-paradise.[17]
In 1667, the French East India Company ambassadors Le Gouz and Bebert presentedLouis XIV of France's letter which urged the protection of French merchants from various rebels in the Deccan. In response to the letter, Aurangzeb issued afirman allowing the French to open a factory inSurat.[citation needed]
François Caron succeeded in founding French outposts atSurat around 1668; where he was said to be Accompanied by aPersian named Marcara,[18][19] and atMasulipatam around 1669;[20] and Louis XIV acknowledged those successes by awarding him theOrder of St. Michael.[21]
EthiopianEmperor Fasilides dispatched an embassy to India in 1664–65 to congratulate Aurangzeb upon his accession to the throne of the Mughal Empire.[22]
For decades, the MalabariMappila Muslims which representing the Mughal empire are already patronizedAceh Sultanate.[23] Aurangzeb, and his brother, Dara Shikoh, participated with Aceh trade and Aurangzeb himself also exchanging presents with the Sultan of Aceh in 1641.[23] In that year, it is recorded the daughter ofIskandar Muda, Sultanah Safiatuddin, has presented Aurangzeb with eight elephants.[24]
When the VOC, orDutch East India Company trying to disrupt the trade in Aceh to make their own Malaka trade lucrative, Aurangzeb threatened the Dutch with retaliation against any losses in Gujarat due to Dutch intervention.[23] This effort were caused due to VOC realization that Muslim tradings were damaging to the VOC.[25] TheFirman issued by Aurangzeb caused the VOC to back down and allowed Indian sailors to pass into Aceh,Perak, andKedah, without any restrictions.[23][25][26]
In 1626, emperor Jahangir began to contemplate an alliance between theOttoman Empire, the Mughals, and theKhanate of Bukhara of theUzbeks against the Safavids, who had defeated the Mughals atKandahar.[27] He even wrote a letter to the OttomanSultan,Murad IV. Jahangir's ambition did not materialise due to his death in 1627.
Aurangzeb establish an embassy ofAbbas II of Persia in 1660 and presented him with gifts. However, relations between the Mughal withSafavid dynasty was not good since the Safavid attacked the Mughal army nearKandahar. Aurangzeb had prepared his armies in the Indus River Basin for punitive campaign, although the death of Abbas II in 1666 caused Aurangzeb to cease the hostility. Aurangzeb's rebellious son,Sultan Muhammad Akbar, also known refuge withSuleiman I of Persia, who had rescued him from theImam ofMusqat. However, the Imam later refused to assist Sultan Muhammad in any military campaign against Aurangzeb.[28]
The relationship between Mughals and theIran (Persia) was cordial but the Qandhar served as a bone of contention between them, being claimed by both. Qandhar was a strategic place and could serve as a better defence against any future onslaught from North-West. Before 1507, the year in which Uzbegs ousted the cousins of Babur from Qandhar, it was ruled by Timurid princes. For thePersians, Qandhar was not a strategic fort but for Mughals it was of much importance. It was well supplied with water, was necessary for protection of Kabul and controlling it implied the best way to keep a tab upon theAfghan andBaluch tribes who possessed a tribal sense of independence and were difficult to control otherwise. Qandhar was also a rich and fertile area and after conquest ofSindh andBaluchistan, Akbar was determined to capture it. Akbar also wanted to promote trade via it.[29]
Initially in the reign of Jahangir,Nur Jahan served as a bridge between the Mughals and Persians, and due to her connections with the Persia, relationship remained cordial. In 1620, Shah Abbas 1, the ruler of Persia, sent a friendly request to Jahangir to return the Qandhar and subsequently made preparation for the expedition. Jahangir was surprised and he decided to send princeKhurram to Qandhar, but the prince put many impossible demands and was reluctant to move onto the campaign. This was the phase of tussle betweenNur Jahan and PrinceKhurram, who was supported by his father in lawAsaf Khan. Thus, Qandhar passed into Persian hands by 1622.Shah Abbas 1 sent lavish embassies and costly gifts to erase the bitterness that developed in the mind of Jahangir after his failure at Qandhar, but the cordiality in the Mughal-Iran relationship came to an end.[30][31]
In 1629, following the death of Shah Abbas 1, Shah Jahan, who succeeded Jahangir made the Persian governorAli Mardan Khan to his side and formally Qandhar was retained by the Mughals in 1638.[32] In 1647, the setback of Mughals at Balkh even after winning the war against Uzbegs emboldened the Persians to attack and conquer Qandhar (1649). The success of Aurangzeb in the battle against Uzbeks persuaded Shah Jahan to send him to Qandhar with an army of 50,000. Mughals under Aurangzeb though defeated Persians but were not able to capture the fort.[30]
In total, Mughal made three attempts twice under Aurangzeb and once underDara Shukoh, the elder son of Shah Jahan. But, able Persian commander and determined resistance made all the efforts waste. After ascending the throne, Aurangzeb, the successor of Shah Jahan, decided not to get embroiled into the Qandhar affair provided it had lost its strategic significance following the weakening of both Persians and Uzbegs. In 1668, the new ruler of Persia,Shah Abbas II insulted the Mughal envoy and made derogatory remarks on Aurangzeb. But, before any conflict happened, Shah Abbas II died and Persian danger to India faded away untilNadir Shah ascended the throne of Persia.[30]
In the 1660s, the Sultan of the Maldives,Ibrahim Iskandar I, requested help from Aurangzeb's representative, theFaujdar ofBalasore. The Sultan wished to gain his support in possible future expulsions of Dutch and English trading ships, as he was concerned with how they might impact the economy of the Maldives. However, as Aurangzeb did not possess a powerful navy and had no interest in providing support to Ibrahim in a possible future war with the Dutch or English, the request came to nothing.[33]
The relationships between the Mughal empire with the Uzbeks political entities, particularly theKhanate of Bukhara remains complex. particularly during the reign of Akbar and Jahangir, as the to vied for control of Lahore and Kabul.[34]
WhenUzbeks chief,Shaibani Khan was defeated by the Safavids in 1510, Babur was able to control Samarqand for a brief period of time. But, the Uzbegs soon struck back by defeating the Safavids and Babur lost the control over it. During this time, he was helped by the Safavids, which established a tradition of mutual friendship between the two empires.[1]
In 1522, Babur captured Qandhar following the disruption created by Uzbegs in Khurasan. But this victory was short lived as following the death of Humayun, Shah Tahmasp, the ruler of Persia at whose court Humayun had taken refuge after being ousted bySher Shah Sur, captured it.[30] Later,Humayun was also given refuge by theShah Tahmasp of Persia, when he was ousted from India bySher Shah Suri. In 1572,Abdullah Khan Uzbeg capturedBalkh and sent embassy to the court of Akbar, seeking the coalition of Sunni powers against Persia. But, Akbar admonished him, and in his reply, let him know, that mere sectarian strife was not a justifiable reason for conquest.[1]
In a letter dated 1577Akbar informed Abdullah Khan Uzbek about his intention to expel the Portuguese fromIndia.[35] Meanwhile, though Uzbegs had captured Balkh, which along withBadakhshan was ruled till 1585 byTimurids, he had no desire to be embroiled into a conflict with them until they threatened Mughal position inKabul andQandhar.[1] In his message sent to Akbar, Abdullah Uzbeg had also rose the issue of pilgrims toMecca, who were facing difficulties due to unfavourable route traversing across Persian territory. Akbar convinced him that opening up of a new route from theGujarat coast will bring the difficulties down.[36]
In 1584, Abdullah Uzbeg capturedBadakhshan and the Timurid prince ruling over the area, Mirza Sulaiman along with his grandson were forced to seek refuge in Akbar's court, who were assigned suitableMansab. Akbar felt Abdullah Uzbeg was a possible threat to Kabul, and hence in 1585, transferred his capital toLahore. Meanwhile, he immediately despatched an army underRaja Man Singh to occupy Kabul, who succeeded in doing so.[37] Abdullah sent a second embassy which was received by Akbar. He was uneasy with the presence of Akbar atAttock at the time when Uzbeg and Mughal borders were running side by side.[1]
According to historianSatish Chandra, both the Mughals and Uzbegs reached to an informal agreement, according to which Mughal gave up their claims in Balkh and Badkhshan while Uzbegs left Kabul and Qandhar for Mughals. In 1595, when Abdullah Khan Uzbeg captured Balkh and Badkhshan, the area ruled by Timurids till 1585, Akbar was forced to capture Qandhar in 1595 to make a defensible frontier against the Uzbegs. The relationship between Mughals and Persians remained cordial since then and embassies were frequently exchanged between the two until the reign of Jahangir came. Akbar, with the capture of Qandhar in 1595 was able to set up scientific frontier along theHindukush. But, Akbar remained atLahore until 1598, and left forAgra only after the death of Abdullah Khan.[30]
In 1598 after the death of Abdullah Khan Uzbeg, the Uzbegs became ineffective to threaten Mughal position in North-West for a long period of time until a new Uzbeg ruler, Nazr Muhammad capturedBalkh andBokhara. Both Nazr Muhammad and his son Abdul Aziz were ambitious, and their control over the Balkh and Bokhara implied their future attempt to threaten Mughals inKabul. Later, Abdul Aziz rebelled against his father and Nazr Muhammad was able to control only Balkh, which was also threatened by the activities of his son. Threatened by his rebel son, Nazr Muhammad sought the help ofShah Jahan who was keen to help as he wanted a friendly ruler at Bokhara. Shah Jahan ordered PrinceMurad Baksh to march towardBalkh, and to help Nazr Muhammad in maintaining his hold upon his empire as well as to assist him in capturingSamarqand and Bokhara. Prince Murad marched as per the order but made a mistake by not waiting for the order of Nazr Muhammad and rushed Balkh in hurry. He also commanded his army to march into the fort of Balkh, in which Nazr Muhammad was seeking shelter.[29]
The hasty action by the prince made Nazr Muhammad skeptical of his intention, and thus, he fled. Mughals occupied Balkh but they were soon attacked by Abdul Aziz, the rebel son of Nazr Muhammad who mustered an army of 1,20,000 to crossOxus river and launch strike against the Mughals. Prince Murad who was unable to continue in the campaign was now replaced by princeAurangzeb. Under the command of Aurangzeb, the Mughals routed Uzbegs under Abdul Aziz, in 1647, nearBalkh. After the Mughal's success at Balkh, the prestige of Mughal army rose and the supporters of Abdul Aziz renounced him. Nazr Muhammad, who was taking refuge atPersia by then, started conversation with the Mughals for regaining his empire, and his claims were supported by Shah Jahan.[29]
Nazr Muhammad was asked to submit personally and apologise toAurangzeb, but According toSatish Chandra:
This was a mistake since the proud Uzbeg ruler was unlikely to demean himself in this way, particularly when he knew that it was impossible for the Mughals to hold on to Balkh for any length of time.[38]
The unfriendly Uzbeg population of the Balkh and the harsh Winter accompanied by shortage of supplies made Mughals left in the same year(1647) in which Balkh was captured. The gain of Shah Jahan was his success in keeping Uzbeg divided and preventing a united Uzbeg state to rise, which could have been a danger to Mughals at Kabul. The motive of "Balkh campaign", as Shah Jahan's attempt to regain Mughal homeland of Samarqand andFargana, and setting up a scientific frontier atOxus, is discarded by Satish Chandra, as Oxus was hardly defensible and no serious attempt were made for the former.[29]
Babur's early relations with the Ottomans were poor because the Selim I provided Babur's rival UzbekUbaydullah Khan with powerfulmatchlocks andcannons.[39]
In 1507, when ordered to accept Selim I as his rightfulsuzerain, Babur refused and gatheredQizilbash servicemen in order to counter the forces of Ubaydullah Khan during theBattle of Ghazdewan in 1512. In 1513, Selim I reconciled with Babur (fearing that he would join theSafavids), dispatchedUstad Ali Quli and Mustafa Rumi, and many other Ottoman Turks, in order to assist Babur in his conquests; this particular assistance proved to be the basis of future Mughal-Ottoman relations.[39] From them, he also adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in field (rather than only insieges), which would give him an important advantage in India.[40] Babur referred to this method as the "Ottoman device" due to its previous use by theOttomans during theBattle of Chaldiran.[41]
Later in 1527, the Ottoman also assisted the Mughals in thebattle of Khanwa.[39]
We have seen how following the break up of Timurid empire in the second half of 15th century, three powerful empires the Uzbeg, the Safavid and the Ottomon established themselves in the Trans oxiana, Iran and Turkey. The Uzbegs were the natural enemy of the Mughals, having been responsible for the expulsion of Babur and other Timurid princes from Samarqand and adjoining areas including Khurasan. At the same time the Uzbegs clashed with the rising power of Safavids who claimed Khurasan. The Khurasanian pleatue linked Iran with Central Asia and the trade route to China and India passed across it. It was natural for the Safavids and the Mughals to ally against the Uzbeg danger, especially as there were no frontier dispute between them with the exception of Qandhar. (p. 282)
The most influential queen of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1542-1605), and mother of Emperor Jahangir, was the beautiful Empress Mariam-uz- Zamani, commonly known as Jodha Bai. She stands out as an adviser who maintained that without a strong navy, the Mughal Empire would be overtaken by foreign armies. As the Mughals had come from Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, both landlocked countries, the concept of a navy was just not in their DNA. But then Akbar allowed his favourite and most loved wife to build ships for trade and Haj pilgrims at the Khizri Darwaza on the River Ravi. This place was later renamed by Maharajah Ranjit Singh as Sheranwala Darwaza after he tied two lions there to celebrate his victory over Multan.
During these audiences Van Adrichem gifted...
{{cite book}}:Missing pipe in:|page= (help)... Aurangzeb and Dara Shukoh participated in Aceh's trade, and Aurangzeb even exchanged presents with Aceh's sultan in 1641. For two decades after the Dutch conquest of Portuguese Melaka in 1641, the VOC tried to attract trade to Melaka by the VOC tried to attract trade to Melaka by restricting Muslim trade to Aceh. Angered by
... 1641 , his daughter , Sultanah Safiatuddin presented Aurangzeb with eight ...
... backed out and allowed Indian traders to sail to Aceh and other southern ports without restriction.74 According to S ...
... 1660s the VOC backed down and allowed Indian traders to sail to Aceh, Perak, and Kedah without restriction.ll Another important trading community in Aceh consisted of Indians from the Coromandel Coast who had been prominent in Malay ...
{{isbn}}: ignored ISBN errors (link), p.204| Emperors | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administration |
| ||||||||
| Conflicts |
| ||||||||
| Architecture |
| ||||||||
| See also | |||||||||
| Successor states | |||||||||
