What did the Mughal emperors buy and sell from the Tsarist Empire of Russia? Questions raised by Putin’s visit to India

Putin India Visit: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India is in discussion. The relations between Russia and India are very deep. Even though today’s form is more strong and organized, relations are also found between the Mughals and the Czarist Empire of Russia.Russian President Putin is on a visit to India. Let us, on this pretext, try to understand this issue in detail. The Tsar Empire of Russia and the Mughal Empire of India were two large and emerging empires in Asia in the 16th-17th century. Despite geographical distance, cultural differences and different religious backgrounds, there were indirect and gradually developing relations between them.

These relations never developed into direct political alliances, but through trade, diplomacy, Central Asian politics, and the activities of European powers, the Czar of Russia and the Mughal Empire of India were aware of each other’s existence and power.

Historical background: When were the foundations of both the empires laid?

• Formation and expansion of the Mughal Empire: After the first battle of Panipat in the year 1526, Babar defeated the Delhi Sultanate and laid the foundation of Mughal rule in India. By the time of Akbar (1556–1605), the Mughal Empire had established its control over large parts of northern, central and western India. This empire reached its peak politically, economically and culturally during the era of Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.
• Rise of the Tsar Empire in Russia: In 1547, Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) declared himself Tsar of all Russia and transformed Russia into a centralized empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Russia was gradually moving towards Asia by capturing Siberia to the east and Tatar khanates like Volga Valley, Kazan, Astrakhan to the south. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Peter the Great and subsequent rulers expanded Russia on both the European and Asian fronts.

Central Asia: A Common Geopolitical Platform

There was no direct border between Mughal India and Tsar Russia, but Central Asia was a region where the interests of both were linked in some way or the other. Babar himself was the ruler of Fergana (present-day Uzbekistan region) and was associated with the Timurid dynasty. For this reason his own cultural and family ties were deep with Central Asia. On the other hand, Russia had been controlling Kazan, Astrakhan and other Tatar states since the time of Ivan IV, which were previously associated with the Golden Horde and Genghis tradition.

Parts of the ancient and medieval Silk Road passed through Central Asia, indirectly connecting China, Central Asia, Persia, Russia and India. Uzbek, Tajik and Persian traders brought cloth, spices, precious stones etc. from India to Russian territories via Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva.

Through this network, goods, information and sometimes even messengers kept coming and going between Russia and Mughal India. Central Asia, especially Bukhara and Samarkand, held emotional and hereditary importance for the Mughals. There is some mention of attacks on these areas during the times of Akbar and Jahangir, although in practice there were strong Uzbek rulers. For Russia, Central Asia was a route to expansion towards the south and south-east, and it could also become a potential route to access large markets such as China and India. Thus, even though the armies of both the empires came face to face less, the axis of interests of both were connected to Central Asia in some way or the other.

Business relations: what was bought and what was sold

The most concrete dimension of the relations between Russia and Mughal India was trade. In the initial period, trade between India and Russia was mainly through Persian, Armenian, Tatar and Central Asian traders. Products like Indian cloth, silk clothes, spices, indigo, precious stones would reach the markets of Central Asia and Persia, from where a part of them would go to Russian traders.

In return, fur (animal skin), wool, wax, metal objects etc. sometimes reached India indirectly from Russia. As Russia became active in European trade through the Baltic and Black Sea, it realized that trade with a warm and resource-rich country like India could be extremely profitable for it. In the 17th century, Russian trading parties and messengers began to be actively sent to Iran and Central Asia, one of the objectives of which was to open a route to the markets of India.

diplomatic and diplomatic relations

Formal diplomatic relations between the two empires remained relatively limited and sporadic, yet there are some incidents mentioned in historical sources which show that both were not unaware of each other’s political presence. European travelers, missionaries, and traders visited both India and Russia and often included information about both regions in their accounts. Russia and the Mughal Empire also became aware of each other’s power, military system and political events through messengers and spies present in the Persian court, Ottoman Empire or Central Asian Khanates. Akbar’s focus was primarily on stability and expansion within the Indian subcontinent, as well as the northwestern frontiers.

The biggest issues for Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries were Europe (Poland-Lithuania, Sweden, the Ottoman Empire) and the conflict with its Tatar enemies. South Asia seemed too distant and complex, so Russia focused its strategic resources on the fronts in Central Asia and the Caucasus rather than extending its strategic resources directly to India. Thus, there does not appear to be any permanent or long-term diplomatic delegation between the two, but a kind of mutual awareness definitely remained through information exchange and formal sources.

Religious and cultural perspective

Both Mughal India and Tsarist Russia had distinct religious identities. The Mughals as an Islamic dynasty, but ruling a multi-religious society, and Russia as an Orthodox Christian empire. During the reign of Akbar, the policy of Sulh-e-Kul (universal peace) and religious tolerance was adopted, in which Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, all were given religious freedom to some extent.

In Russia, Orthodox Christianity was a central part of the state’s identity. At times harsh policies were adopted towards Catholic, Muslim and Jewish communities, especially when these communities appeared to be involved in political rebellion or associated with outside powers.

Due to geographical distance and political priorities, there was no extensive exchange of religious or cultural envoys between India and Russia. Nevertheless, in later centuries (18th and 19th centuries) when Russian travelers and scholars came to India or Indian scholars reached Russia, cultural and intellectual relations between the two countries gradually developed—but this period is more associated with the decline of the Mughal Empire and the period of British dominance.

Nature and extent of relationships

If we sum up the entire perspective, then it can be said about the relations between the Tsarist Empire of Russia and Mughal India that neither there was a large-scale exchange of embassies between the two, nor is there any major series of military alliances or confrontations recorded. Both empires were so busy on their respective primary fronts – the subcontinent in Mughal India, Europe and North Asia in Russia, that the thought of planned expansion towards each other could not arise.

Goods and information were exchanged between the two empires through Central Asian, Persian and European networks. This made both the regions aware of each other’s prosperity and resources, even if this relationship did not become as deep as England-Mughal or Persian-Mughal relations.

Central Asia was important for the Mughals from hereditary and cultural point of view and for Russia from strategic and commercial point of view. It is from here that the boundaries of the interests of both seem to collide or meet with each other somewhere. The two empires were representatives of different religious and cultural traditions, but these differences did not lead to any direct religious conflict or hostility; Distance and other priorities greatly reduced the likelihood of such a conflict. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, British control was established over the region, and Russia’s attraction towards South Asia began to take on new meaning in the context of the British Empire. This same background can later be seen in the distant historical roots of modern India-Russia relations, even if their direct connection is not very strongly linked to the Mughal-Russian era.

Thus, if we define the Russo-Mughal relationship, then we can say that it was a relationship between two contemporary empires which were present together on the map of geography and history, but their direct routes were less and indirect contacts were more.

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