Abstract
This article deals with the foreign diplomatic relations of the Ashtarkhanid dynasty with India, which ruled the Bukhara Khanate in the middle of the XVII-XVIII centuries. When the Ashtarkhanid dynasty came to power, it maintained active diplomatic relations with its closest neighbors in the region, the Khiva Khanate, Iran, the later Kokand Khanate, and other countries. In this regard, in the diplomatic relations with the Baburid dynasty we are talking about, the relations between the Baburid rulers Jahangir, Shah Jahan and subsequent rulers of Imamqulikhan, Nadir Muhammad and other Ashtarkhani rulers were discussed.
During the reign of the Ashtarkhanid dynasty, strong diplomatic relations were established between the Bukhara Khanate and the Baburid dynasty in India. In 1613, Imamqulikhan sent his ambassadors to the ruler of India, Jahangir. Jahangir welcomes the ambassadors. According to R. Varma, the Bukhara ambassadors cited a letter written by Imam Qulikhan to Jahangir, noting that during the reign of the late Bukhara Khan Abdullah and Akbar, a number of alliances were formed between Bukhara and India, and that Khorasan and several parts of Iran were occupied.
According to the author of "Tarihi Muqimkhaniy", Some time later, Jahangir sent Hakim Haziq to Bukhara with an official photo of Imamqulikhan. After that, ambassadors were sent from Bukhara to India under the leadership of Hodja Abdurahim. Hodja Abdurahim was one of the grandsons of Hodja Islam Joybor and was the middle son of Hodja Sa’d. According to Matlabut-Talibin, the reason for Abdurahim's visit to India was the following incident. In India, the news of a strong rift between Jahangirshah and his son Shah Hurram also reached Bukhara. Hodja Abdurahim came to Imamqulikhan and said that the parents and children should be reconciled. With the consent of Hodja Abdurahim Imamqulikhan, he set out. Hodja Abdurahim sets out with valuables - a number of horses, fox and beaver skins, fish teeth, camels and other gifts. Khoja Abdurahim is accompanied by several officials and his eldest son Muhammad Siddiqhoja.
According to Indian historian Banarsi Prasad Saxena, Hodja Abdurahim Bukhara Khan, who came to India as an ambassador, also proposed the division of Khorasan between India and Bukhara, but the offer was rejected due to Jahangirshah's death3. So, according to B.P. Saxena, Hodja Abdurahim is the official ambassador of Bukhara khan to India. The author of "Tuzuku Jahangiri" also writes that in his work he quoted a letter from Hodja Abdurahim Imamqulikhan addressed to Jahangirshah. However, neither the play nor Matlabut Talibin, which details Hodja Abdurahim's journey to India, contain any information about the letter or its summary.
According to historical sources, Imam Qulikhan's mother and Jahangirshah's wife Nurjahonbegim (through their representatives) also sent friendly letters to each other and valuable gifts and presents. Ambassadors of India led by Nurjahanbegim Khoja Nasriddin Kabuli arrived in Bukhara from India.
During the reign of King Jahan, the state was economically and politically weakened. King Jahan was tasked with maintaining the empire, subjugating the Dean, and subjugating Kandahar to India. Balkh Governor Nadir Muhammad tried to take advantage of the internal conflicts in India. He takes advantage of Jahangir Shah's death to attack Kabul. It has been besieging the city for some time. The extreme instability of the internal affairs of the empire, the strained relations with Iran, and the events in Kabul required the Shah Jahan to be on friendly terms with the Bukhara Khanate. For this reason, the ambassador of Balkh, who came to India in 1632, made great compliments to Baghdad Haji. The ambassador will receive a gift of 15,000 rupees - 40,000 rupees in return for his greetings. Next year, in response to the embassy of Baqqas Haji, Indian ambassadors headed by Tarbiyyatkhan will be sent to Balkh. Thus, until 1639, ambassadors traveled between Balkh and Agra.
In 1638, King Jahan annexed Kandahar to India. In 1639, King Jahan came to Kabul with his army. This frightens the governor of Balkh, Nadir Muhammad. Imamqulikhan and Nadir Muhammad send a letter to Shah Jahan through Ambassador Mansurhoja dodhoh. According to Tarihi Muqimkhani, Shah Jahan told the Bukhara ambassador that if his visit to Kabul worried the Bukhara khan, he would return to India on the same day. When Nadir Muhammad came to power, Shah Jahan, who had taken advantage of a dispute with his son Abdulaziz Khan, captured Balkh in 1645. The new khan of Bukhara, Abdulazizkhan, gathered a large force and marched to Balkh. He was assisted by Khiva khan Abulgazikhan and Kazakh khan Yangir. In the four-month war, the armies of the Bukhara Khanate were victorious and Balkh was recaptured. In the first years of Abdulaziz Khan's rule, relations between Bukhara and India deteriorated. The main reason for this was the occupation of Balkh by Indian troops.
In 1658, Avrangzeb came to power in the Baburi dynasty. During the reign of Avrangzeb, India had good relations with the Central Asian khanates, especially the Bukhara khanate. This relationship begins with a letter from Bukhara Khan Abdulaziz Khan congratulating Avrangzeb on his accession to the throne. The letter will be delivered by Hodja Ahmad al-Husseini. François Bernier, who traveled throughout India at that time and remained in the royal palace due to his medical profession, narrates the following about the ambassadors of Bukhara: gave. The letter brought by the ambassadors was handed to him by the Emir of Avrangzeb. After carefully reading the letter, Avrangzeb ordered the ambassadors to give him a velvet tunic, a turban, and a silk scarf. In conversations with the ambassadors, Avrangzeb asked questions about science in Samarkand, especially the condition of the Ulugbek Observatory, and the wonderful fruit harvest.According to Miratul Alam, the ambassadors of Bukhara visited the Indian king twice (November 27, 1661 and March 14, 1662) during the fourth year of Avrangzeb's reign. The head of the ambassadors, Hodja Ahmad Husseini, has died in Lahore. The names of other ambassadors, such as Hushholkhan, Javharkhan, Mirzabek, Mirshakar, Latifbek, Mirakhur, are also mentioned in the work "Olamgirnoma".
In the sixth year of Avrangzeb's reign, Abdulazizkhan's official Kochakbek brought horses and game animals from Bukhara to the Indian king. In return, Kochakbek will receive an honorary coat and two thousand rupees. In the seventh year of Avrangzeb's reign (July 1665) he sent an ambassador to Bukhara under the leadership of Mustafa Khan. The ambassadors will bring a letter addressed to Abdulaziz Khan and a gift worth 150,000 rupees. It is not clear for what purpose the Mustafa Khan embassy came to Bukhara. The letter sent by Avrangzeb expressed confidence in the strengthening of friendly relations between the two sides. It was later reported that it had been decided to march on Iraq and Khorasan against the Iranians.
According to Miratul Alam, on May 11, 1669, ambassadors led by Rustambi arrived in India from Bukhara. In response to Rustambi's embassy, the Yakkatozkhan embassy left India in May 1670. The ambassadors will bring 100 royal horses, an elephant worth 4,000 rupees, a weapon decorated with precious stones and other valuable gifts to the Bukhara khan.
The governor of Balkh, Subhanqulikhan, also had close relations with India. Before his brother Abdulaziz, Subhanqulikhan congratulated Avrangzeb on his accession to the throne through Ambassador Ibrahimbek. Avrangzeb, in turn, sent a friendly letter to Subhanqulikhan and a lap rupee through Ambassador Mustafa Khan. Although Abdulaziz Khan in a letter sent through the embassy of Rustambi called on the Indian king to fight against Iran, the good relations of the Bukhara khanate with the Baburi dynasty that ruled in India at that time were not out of hostility towards Iran. Because at that time there were almost no major military clashes between the Bukhara Khanate and Iran.
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