A Study of Relations between Mughal India and the Ottoman Empire

1556-1748

Abstract

In India, relationship with Ottoman was not found until the foundation of the Mughal empire in the early sixteenth century that India was able to break this self-imposed isolation from the outside world. Several factors were responsible for this momentous development.  The present study is, therefore, a pioneering effort. It seeks to fill a gap in the Indian and Ottoman historical literature. Two fundamental questions guide this study. First, what factors determined Mughal policy towards the Ottoman empire? Was it guided by the interests of the Mughal state?      Or was it governed by the whims, passions, and prejudices of the Mughal Emperors? Second, did Mughal relations with the Safavids, the Uzbeks, and the Sharifs of Mecca have any bearing on Mughal-Ottoman relations? The present study discussed the three major aspects. The first aspect is the Mughal empire's political and diplomatic relations with Istanbul from its beginning in 1556 to Emperor Shahjahan's deposition in 1658. The second aspect relates to the story of the Mughal-Ottoman relations from the accession of Aurangzeb in 1658 to the death of Muhammad Shah in 1748. The third aspect includes Mughal relations with the Sharifs of Mecca.