What's new

Mughal-Ottoman relations

Views that differ

FULL MEMBER

New Recruit

Joined
Jul 13, 2021
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Country
India
Location
India
I'll try to answer your question, sorry if it doesn't satisfy you. I'll primarily address the Ottoman-Mughal turmoil of the 16th century, because i didn't have the quintessential book of Ottoman-Mughal relations. There are attempts made for an Ottoman-Mughal-Uzbek alliance against Safavid Persia, but most of the time it didn't come into fruition because of one reason or another.

The first time the alliance was proposed is on 1586, where the Uzbek leader Abdullah Khan requested the Mughals, led by Jalal-ud din Muhammad Akbar at the time to join the tripartite alliance against the Safavids. However, Akbar turned this down, primarily because of his hostilities towards the Ottomans. Even though his father Humayun has maintained a good relationship with the Ottomans, Akbar openly challenged the Ottomans who had earlier presence in the India by first conquering Gujarat, a kingdom which was under Ottoman sphere of influence. Signs of his hostility came as early as 1568, Where Itimad Khan, the leader of anti-Rumi (Turkish or people of Turkish descent in India) had arranged for the murder of the Rumi warlord Chingiz Khan, after the latter had installed himself in the capital of Ahmedabad and seemed on the verge of being declared Gujarat’s new sultan. In the unrest that followed this assassination, Itimad Khan then submitted to the Mughals for protection. Later in 1573, Akbar also conquered the city of Surat that gave him a port to the Indian Ocean. Via this port, he started distributed enormous quantities of gold and silver currency for the poor of Mecca and Medina, as well as sumptuous gifts of textiles and other luxury products for notables and religious dignitaries in the holy cities. He also send prominent entourage of ladies from his own household, including his paternal aunt and his own wife, on an extended pilgrimage to the holy cities. These ladies arrived with his first convoy of ships in 1576 and stayed for several years, eventually performing the hajj four times and with each season dispensing those afromentioned alms widely in Akbar’s name. While these actions doesn't hurt the Ottomans in any way, it's certainly an attempt by Akbar to gain prestige and legitimacy in the holy cities which was ruled by the Ottomans. The Ottomans, still cautious of the Mughals issued a temporary measure of forbidding the distribution of alms in Akbar’s name in Mecca (it nevertheless continued in secret for several more years) and to order the entourage of ladies from his court to return to India with the next sailing season. Their suspicions was confirmed in 1578, where Akbar declared himself "Padishah of Islam", "Imam of Justice", and "Caesar", all titles closely associated with the Ottoman dynasty. In a letter to the Uzbek khan he even expressed a wish that the Friday sermon in Mecca and Medina would one day be read in his name rather than in the name of the sultans in Istanbul. The Ottomans tried to coerce Akbar to renounce his anti-Ottoman policies and join with the sultan in a holy war against the Habsburgs, but he angrily rejected the Ottoman proposal, going so far as to violate diplomatic protocol by ordering the delegation to be bound in chains and banished to confinement in Lahore. In 1584, Akbar established a permanent embassy in Goa which was under the Portuguese, which generates rumours about possible Mughal-Portuguese alliance against the Ottomans. Though this was extremely unlikely given the lack of evidence concerning the alliance, the Ottomans nevertheless was anxious of this development and rumour which was elaborated by their spies in India. In a firman given by Sultan Murad III to Hasan Pasha, governor of Yemen in 1588:

The spies who had been sent to India have returned. They have been informed that Jalal al-Din, the king of the aforementioned country , has concluded an alliance with the Portuguese infidels and they have prepared a fleet with the intention of invasion and pillaging the ports of Yemen. A large number of men have also been deputed at the port of Diu ... Explicit and emphatic directives have been given to the governor-general of Egypt and Basra to dispatch the galleys at your request without any delay. I command that as soon as this firman arrives you shall not delay in getting information about the fleet of the base infidels and shall remain alert with all your resources in this matter. You shall send reliable and efficient men along with your letter to the above-mentioned governors-general of Basra and Egypt and summon fifteen galleys from the governor-general of Egypt and five galleys from the governor-general of Basra. In conformity with the exigency of the situation, you shall act like a wolf and prevent the base infidels from ravaging my protected dominions ... Do not take this matter lightly! Do not leave anything to chance! It is imperative that you make all possible efforts to ward off the danger. You shall be assiduous accordingly. Take appropriate measures to prevent any aggression against my territories from the enemy ports
His successor, Jahangir restored friendship with the Ottomans and took great care of not offending the Uzbeks. Due to the loss of Kandahar, he revived the idea of an Ottoman-Mughal-Uzbek alliance turned down by his father but cut short because of his death. His successor Shah Jahan also toyed with the idea but it's also taken down because of his aggressive policy in Central Asia (primarily against the Uzbeks) which made the Ottomans suspended their relationship with the Mughals but is restored in 1658 upon Shah Jahan's deposition. His successor Aurangzeb send an embassy to Istanbul but did not enthusiastically make overtures of friendship. Aurangzeb's successor Muhammad Shah attempted to contact the Ottomans for help fighting the Persians, but is cut short because of the Ottoman-Persian treaty of 1746 and Nadir Shah's death next year, followed by his own death in 1748.

Sources:

"Ottoman-Mughal Political Relations circa 1500-1923" by Razi Ashraf

"The Ottoman Age of Exploration" by Giancarlo Casae

"Mughal-Ottoman Relations: A Study of Political & Diplomatic Relations Between Mughal India and The Ottoman Empire, 1556-1748" By Naimur Rahman Farooqi. This is the quintessential book, get it if you want to learn more on the subject

I thought they were much closer but I was wrong, they were not friends but sort of enemies for most of the time, even Safavids did not unite them.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom