Editing Aurangzeb (section)

===Foreign relations===
[[File:Hofstaat zu Delhi am Geburtstag des Großmoguls01.jpg|thumb|''The Birthday of the Grand Mogul Aurangzeb'', made 1701–1708 by [[Johann Melchior Dinglinger]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|author1=Schimmel, A.|author2=Waghmar, B.K.|date=2004|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-86189-185-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7sewQQzOHUC|page=17|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref>]]

Aurangzeb sent diplomatic missions to [[Mecca]] in 1659 and 1662, with money and gifts for the [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharif]]. He also sent alms in 1666 and 1672 to be distributed in Mecca and [[Medina]]. Historian Naimur Rahman Farooqi writes that, "By 1694, Aurangzeb's ardour for the Sharifs of Mecca had begun to wane; their greed and rapacity had thoroughly disillusioned the Emperor ... Aurangzeb expressed his disgust at the unethical behavior of the Sharif who appropriated all the money sent to the [[Hijaz]] for his own use, thus depriving the needy and the poor."{{sfn|Farooqi|1989|pp=124, 126|ps=: "In November 1659, shortly after his formal coronation, Aurangzeb sent ... a diplomatic mission to Mecca ... entrusted with 630.000 rupees for the Sharif families of Mecca and Medina ... Aurangzeb sent another mission to Mecca in 1662 ... with presents worth 660,000 rupees ... Aurangzeb also sent considerable amount of money, through his own agents, to Mecca. In 1666 ... alms and offerings; ... six years later ... several lakhs of rupees; the money was to be spent in charity in Mecca and Medina."}} According to English traveller named John Fryar, Aurangzeb considered that despite his enormous power on land, it was cheaper to establish a reciprocal relation with the naval forces of the Portuguese empire, to secure the sea interest of ships in Mughal territory, so he did not built large naval forces.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Daniel R. Headrick |title=Power Over Peoples Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3359-7 |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xRtD64vi5EC |access-date=15 March 2024 |language=en |format=ebook}}</ref>

====Relations with Aceh====
For decades, the Malabari [[Mappila Muslims]] which representing the Mughal empire are already patronized [[Aceh Sultanate]].<ref name="Andaya-2008">{{cite book |author1=Leonard Y. Andaya |author-link= Leonard Y. Andaya |title=Leaves of the Same Tree Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka |date=22 January 2008 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-3189-9 |pages=121–122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7AqZR1ZUZgC |access-date=2 December 2023 |language=En |format=Hardcover |quote=... 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}}</ref> Aurangzeb, and his brother, Dara Shikoh, participated with Aceh trade and Aurangzeb himself also exchanging presents with the Sultan of Aceh in 1641.<ref name="Andaya-2008" /> In that year, it is recorded the daughter of  [[Iskandar Muda]], Sultanah Safiatuddin, has presented Aurangzeb with eight elephants.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pius Malekandathil |title=The Indian Ocean in the Making of Early Modern India |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-99745-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-WEPDQAAQBAJ |access-date=11 March 2024 |language=En |format=ebook |quote=... 1641 , his daughter , Sultanah Safiatuddin presented Aurangzeb with eight ...}}</ref>

When the VOC, or [[Dutch 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.<ref name="Andaya-2008" /> This effort were caused due to VOC realization that Muslim tradings were damaging to the VOC.<ref name="Malekandathil-2016">{{cite book |editor1-last=Malekandathil |editor1-first=Pius |title=The Indian Ocean in the Making of Early Modern India |date=13 September 2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-99746-1 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=viUlDwAAQBAJ |access-date=2 December 2023 |quote=... backed out and allowed Indian traders to sail to Aceh and other southern ports without restriction.74 According to S ...}}</ref> The [[Firman]] issued by Aurangzeb caused the VOC to back down and allowed Indian sailors to pass into Aceh, [[Perak]], and [[Kedah]], without any restrictions.<ref name="Andaya-2008" /><ref name="Malekandathil-2016"/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Frans Huskin |author2=Dick van der Meij |title=Reading Asia New Research in Asian Studies |date=11 October 2013 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=87 |isbn=978-1-136-84377-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVhUAQAAQBAJ |access-date=2 December 2023 |language=En |format=ebook |quote=... 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 ...}}</ref>

====Relations with the Uzbek====
[[Subhan Quli Khan]], [[Balkh]]'s Uzbek ruler was the first to recognise him in 1658 and requested for a general alliance, he worked alongside the new Mughal Emperor since 1647, when Aurangzeb was the Subedar of Balkh.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

====Relations with the Safavid dynasty====
[[Safavid Iran]] and the Mughal Empire had long clashed over Kandahar, an outpost on the distant frontier of their two empires. Control of the city swung back and forth.{{sfn|Matthee|2012|pp=122-124}} Aurangzeb led two unsuccessful campaigns to recapture it 1649 and 1652. Mughal attempts died down after 1653 amidst internal rivalries.{{sfn|Matthee|2012|pp=124-125}}{{sfn|Farooqi|1989|p=60}}

Upon ascending the throne, Aurangzeb was eager to obtain diplomatic recognition from the Safavids to bolster the legitimacy of his rule. [[Abbas II of Persia]] sent an embassy in 1661. Aurangzeb received the ambassador warmly and they exchanged gifts.{{sfn|Farooqi|1989|pp=58-59}} A return embassy sent by Aurangzeb to Persia in 1664 was poorly treated. Tensions over Kandahar rose again. There were cross border raids, but hostilities subsided after Abbas II's death in 1666.{{sfn|Matthee|2012|p=126}}

Aurangzeb's rebellious son, [[Muhammad Akbar (Mughal prince)|Prince Akbar]], sought refuge with [[Suleiman I of Persia]]. Suleiman rescued him from the [[Imam]] of [[Musqat]], but refused to assist him in any military adventures against Aurangzeb.{{sfn|Matthee|2012|p=136}}

====Relations with the French====
In 1667, the French East India Company ambassadors Le Gouz and Bebert presented [[Louis 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 a ''[[firman]]'' allowing the French to open a factory in [[Surat]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

<gallery>
File:Pomp and Ceremony of the March of the Great Mogol.jpg|''March of the Great Moghul'' (Aurangzeb)
File:Voyage de Francois Bernier by Paul Maret 1710.jpg|[[François Bernier]], was a French physician and traveller, who for 12 years was the personal physician of Aurangzeb. He described his experiences in ''Travels in the Mughal Empire''.
File:Indostan - a Map of India by Vincenzo Coronelli, Venice 1692.jpg|A map of the Mughal Empire by Vincenzo Coronelli (1650–1718) of Venice, who served as Royal Geographer to Louis XIV of France.
File:1652 Sanson Map of India - Geographicus - India-sanson-1652.jpg|A French map of the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]].
</gallery>

====Relations with the Sultanate of Maldives====

In the 1660s, the Sultan of the Maldives, [[Ibrahim Iskandar I]], requested help from Aurangzeb's representative, the [[Faujdar]] of [[Balasore]]. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tripathy |first=Rasananda |year=1986 |title=Crafts and commerce in Orissa in the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ybX1-CqEXPkC&pg=PA91 |location=Delhi |publisher=Mittal Publications |page=91 |oclc=14068594 |access-date=29 April 2012}}</ref>

====Relations with the Ottoman Empire====
Like his father, Aurangzeb was not willing to acknowledge the Ottoman claim to the [[caliphate]]. He often supported the Ottoman Empire's enemies, extending cordial welcome to two rebel Governors of Basra, and granting them and their families a high status in the imperial service. Sultan [[Suleiman II of the Ottoman Empire|Suleiman II]]'s friendly postures were ignored by Aurangzeb.{{sfn|Farooqi|1989|pp=332–333|ps=: "Aurangzeb, who seized the Peacock throne from Shahjahan, was equally unwilling to acknowledge the Ottoman claim to the Khilafat. Hostile towards the Ottomans, the Emperor took every opportunity to support the opponents of the Ottoman regime. He cordially welcomed two rebel Governors of Basra and gave them and their dependents high mansabs in the imperial service. Aurangzeb also did not respond to Sultan Suleiman II's friendly overtures."}} The Sultan urged Aurangzeb to wage holy war against Christians.{{sfn|Farooqi|1989|p=151|ps=: "Suleiman II even solicited Aurangzeb's support against the Christians and urged him to wage holy war against them."}} However, Aurangzeb were granted as patron of [[Sharif of Mecca]], and sending the Sherif at that time with richly laden mission, which at that time were under the jurisdiction of Ottoman.<ref>{{cite book |author=John F. Richards |title=The Mughal Empire Part 1, Volume 5 |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC |access-date=2 December 2023 |language=En |format=Paperback}}</ref>

====Relations with the English and the Anglo-Mughal War====
{{See also|Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)}}
[[File:The English ask pardon of Aurangzeb.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Josiah Child]] requests a pardon from Aurangzeb during the [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)|Anglo-Mughal War]].]]

In 1686, the [[East India Company]], which had unsuccessfully tried to obtain a ''[[firman]]'' that would grant them regular trading privileges throughout the Mughal Empire, initiated the [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)|Anglo-Mughal War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Asia.aspx# |title=Asia Facts, information, pictures &#124; Encyclopedia.com articles about Asia &#124; Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World |publisher=encyclopedia.com|access-date=23 February 2015}}</ref> This war ended in disaster for the English after Aurangzeb in 1689 dispatched a large fleet from [[Janjira State|Janjira]] that [[blockade]]d [[Bombay]]. The ships, commanded by [[Sidi Yaqub]], were manned by Indians and [[Mappila]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Faruki |first=Zahiruddin |year=1972 |orig-date=1935 |title=Aurangzeb & His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvNtAAAAMAAJ |location=Bombay |publisher=Idarah-i Adabiyāt-i Delli |page=442 |oclc=1129476255}}</ref> In 1690, realising the war was not going favourably for them, the Company sent envoys to Aurangzeb's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys prostrated themselves before the emperor, agreed pay a large indemnity, and promise to refrain from such actions in the future.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In September 1695, English pirate [[Henry Every]] conducted one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with his capture of a Grand Mughal [[grab (ship)|grab]] convoy near [[Surat]]. The Indian ships had been returning home from their annual [[Hajj|pilgrimage to Mecca]] when the pirate struck, [[Capture of the Grand Mughal Fleet|capturing]] the ''[[Ganj-i-Sawai]]'', reportedly the largest ship in the Muslim fleet, and its escorts in the process. When news of the capture reached the mainland, a livid Aurangzeb nearly ordered an armed attack against the English-governed city of Bombay, though he finally agreed to compromise after the Company promised to pay financial reparations, estimated at £600,000 by the Mughal authorities.<ref name="Burgess">{{cite journal |last1=Burgess |first1=Douglas R. | author-link = Douglas R. Burgess |year=2009 |title=Piracy in the Public Sphere: The Henry Every Trials and the Battle for Meaning in Seventeenth-Century Print Culture |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=887–913 |doi=10.1086/603599 |s2cid=145637922 }}</ref>

Meanwhile, Aurangzeb shut down four of the English East India Company's [[Factory (trading post)|factories]], imprisoned the workers and captains (who were nearly [[Lynching|lynched]] by a rioting mob), and threatened to put an end to all English trading in India until Every was captured.<ref name="Burgess"/> The Lords Justices of England offered a bounty for Every's apprehension, leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded history. However, Every successfully eluded capture.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Pirates' Pact: The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious Buccaneers and Colonial America |url=https://archive.org/details/piratespactsecre00jrdo |url-access=limited |last=Burgess |first=Douglas R. | author-link = Douglas R. Burgess |year=2009 |publisher= McGraw-Hill |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-147476-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/piratespactsecre00jrdo/page/n162 144–145]}}</ref>

In 1702, Aurangzeb sent Daud Khan Panni, the Mughal Empire's Subhedar of the [[Carnatic region]], to besiege and blockade [[Fort St. George]] for more than three months.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQgt5SYepi8C&pg=PA11 |title=A Miscellany of Mutinies And Massacres in India |first=Terence R. |last=Blackburn |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2007 |page=11 |isbn=978-81-313-0169-2}}</ref> The governor of the fort [[Thomas Pitt]] was instructed by the East India Company to sue for peace.

==== Relations with the Ethiopian Empire ====
[[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopian]] [[Fasilides|Emperor Fasilides]] dispatched an embassy to India in 1664–65 to congratulate Aurangzeb upon his accession to the throne of the Mughal Empire. The delegation reportedly presented several valuable offerings to the Mughal Emperor, such as slaves, ivory, horses, a set of intricately adorned silver pocket pistols, a zebra and various other exotic gifts. [[François Bernier]], describes the presents as consisting of:
{{blockquote|:"twenty-five choice slaves, nine or ten of whom were of a tender age and in a state to be made eunuchs [...]; fifteen horses, esteemed equal to those of Arabia, and a species of mule, whose skin I have seen: no tiger is so beautifully marked, and no alacha [a piece of cloth] of the Indies, or stripped silken stuff, is more finely and variously streaked; a couple of elephant's teeth [i. e. tusks], of a size so prodigious that it required, it seems, the utmost exertion of a strong man to lift either of them from the ground; and lastly, the horn of an ox, filled with civet, which was indeed enormously large, for I measured the mouth of it at Delhy, and found that it exceeded half a foot in diameter"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bernier |first=François |title=Travels in the Mogul Empire: A.D. 1656–1668 |year=1671}}</ref>}}

==== Relations with the Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Dzungars ====
After 1679, the [[Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War|Tibetans invaded Ladakh]], which was in the Mughal sphere of influence. Aurangzeb intervened on [[Ladakh|Ladakh's]] behalf in 1683, but his troops retreated before [[Dzungar Khanate|Dzungar]] reinforcements arrived to bolster the Tibetan position. At the same time, however, a letter was sent from the governor of Kashmir claiming the Mughals had defeated the [[Dalai Lama]] and conquered all of Tibet, a cause for celebration in Aurangzeb's court.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MAASIR-I-'ALAMGIRI |url=https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10973/19784/GIPE-108534-Contents.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y |website=dspace.gipe.ac.in}}</ref>

Aurangzeb received an embassy from [[Muhammad Amin Khan]] of [[Moghulistan|Chagatai Moghulistan]] in 1690, seeking assistance in driving out "Qirkhiz infidels" (meaning the Buddhist Dzungars), who "had acquired dominance over the country".

==== Relations with the Czardom of Russia ====
[[Russian Czar]] [[Peter the Great]] requested Aurangzeb to open Russo-Mughal trade relations in the late 17th century. In 1696 Aurangzeb received his envoy, Semyon Malenkiy, and allowed him to conduct free trade. After staying for six years in India, and visiting [[Surat]], [[Burhanpur]], Agra, Delhi and other cities, Russian merchants returned to Moscow with valuable Indian goods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Russia and India: A civilisational friendship |date=9 September 2016 |url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/history/2016/09/09/russia-and-india-a-civilizational-friendship_628415}}</ref>