Foreign Policy of Mughals in the Northwest

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There were three major powers with which the Mughals had to reckon while formulating their Northwest frontier policy:

The Uzbegs of Central Asia, who were Sunnis.
The Safavids of Iran, who were Shias.
The Ottomans, who were Turk Sunnis.

Apart from these three major powers, the Mughals also had to deal with several Afghan tribes — such as the Afridis, Yusufzais, and Ghilzais — who were frequently provoked by the Uzbegs into acting against the Mughals.

Features and Considerations of Mughal Foreign Policy in the Northwest

The emotional dimension of foreign policy: Many historians, such as Abdur Rahim and Riazul Islam, have argued that Babur harboured, from the very outset, a deep desire to reconquer his ancestral homeland in Central Asia. This emotional aspiration influenced the outlook of his successors as well, shaping Mughal foreign policy for generations to come.
Maintenance of a safe frontier in the North-West, treating the Kabul–Kandahar line as the natural defensive frontier of the Mughal Empire, essential for the defence of India itself. Both diplomatic and military means were employed towards this end.
Checks on Uzbeg aggression:
- The Uzbegs and the Mughals were old contestants, the Uzbegs being natural enemies of the Mughals ever since they were responsible for Babur’s expulsion from Samarqand.
- Resenting the Mughal alliance with Iran, the Uzbegs routinely provoked Afghan and Baluchi tribes against the Mughals.
Friendly relations with the Safavids of Iran, barring the recurring dispute over Kandahar. Both the Safavids and the Mughals were inclined toward friendly relations, chiefly as a shared response to the common Uzbeg threat.
Promotion of commercial and trade interests: Kabul and Kandahar served as the twin gateways of trade — Kabul connecting to Central Asia, and Kandahar to Iran.
Subjugation of rebellious tribes along the Northwest frontier, essential to maintaining stable control over the region.
Equality of status among all powers: for instance, the Mughals declined to accept the claims of superiority made by the Ottomans as self-styled successors to the Caliphate.
The Mughals similarly refused Uzbeg proposals for a tripartite Ottoman–Mughal–Uzbeg Sunni alliance against the Safavids, recognising that such an alliance would upset the broader Asian balance of power.

Policy Under Different Mughal Rulers

Babur

Kabul and Kandahar formed part of the Mughal domain under Babur.
His reign saw persistent conflict with the Uzbegs, alongside generally good relations with the Safavids.

Humayun

Humayun granted Kabul and Kandahar to his brother, Kamran.
He maintained good relations with the Safavids (under Shah Tahmasp), and received crucial Safavid assistance during his period of exile.
He subsequently lost control of both Kabul and Kandahar.
The Safavid ruler entered into a pact with Humayun, under which Humayun promised to cede Kandahar to Iran in return for Safavid military assistance — an agreement Humayun, with little choice during his exile, was compelled to accept.
- With Iranian help, Humayun succeeded in capturing Kandahar, though Kabul remained under the control of his brother, Kamran.
- Humayun subsequently pursued a “policy of delay” in actually transferring Kandahar to the Safavids, and while he remained preoccupied with regaining power in India, the Safavids seized Kandahar for themselves.

Akbar

Akbar acquired Kabul in 1585 and Kandahar in 1595.
The powerful Uzbeg ruler Abdullah Khan had conquered Balkh in 1570, followed by Khurasan and Badakhshan — bringing Uzbeg power dangerously close to the Mughal frontier and posing a direct threat to Kabul. Abdullah Khan also actively encouraged Afghan and Baluchi tribes to act against the Mughals.
- Akbar accordingly remained stationed at Lahore from 1586 to 1598 (until Abdullah Khan Uzbeg’s death), working to counter the Uzbeg threat, suppress rebellious frontier tribes, and thwart further Uzbeg aggression.
To consolidate Mughal power in the Northwest, Akbar conquered Sindh (1591), Kashmir (1585), and Baluchistan (1595), maintaining the Kabul–Kashmir–Kandahar line as a natural and coherent frontier of defence.
He actively promoted commercial interests in the region, and maintained cordial relations with the Safavids despite the persistent dispute over Kandahar (claimed by both powers), guided by shared strategic and commercial interests.
When the Uzbegs proposed a tripartite Sunni alliance (Mughal, Uzbeg, and Ottoman) against the (Shia) Safavids, Akbar declined, replying that “difference in law and religion is not a sufficient ground for conquest.”
- Akbar, in fact, considered a strong Iran necessary as a check on Uzbeg power, and had no particular desire to become embroiled in conflict with the Uzbegs unless they directly threatened Kabul.

Jahangir

The Safavids captured Kandahar in 1622.
Embassies were exchanged between Jahangir and the Uzbegs, exploring the possibility of a coalition of the three Sunni powers against the Safavids — though this did not translate into concrete military action.

Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan exchanged embassies with the Safavids, reaching certain diplomatic understandings with them.
He acquired Kandahar in 1638 through diplomacy, though this control did not prove permanent — the Safavids regained Kandahar in 1649.
Shah Jahan subsequently launched three major military campaigns to recover Kandahar, all of which ultimately failed.
The 1646 Balkh campaign, often considered the climax of Mughal foreign policy in the region, resulted in a Mughal military victory — yet the Mughals proved unable to sustain their hold over such a distant territory, and were forced to withdraw. While the campaign vividly demonstrated Mughal military strength, Kandahar itself was permanently lost.

Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb made no further effort to recover Kandahar.
He maintained diplomatic relations with the Safavids.
Through a combination of diplomacy and military force, he worked to subdue the rebellious Northwest frontier tribes, chiefly in order to safeguard Mughal trade interests in the region.
With both the Uzbegs and Safavids weakened by this stage, Kandahar no longer carried the same degree of strategic importance for the Mughals that it once had.

Under the later Mughals, the rise of Nadir Shah in Iran, and his invasion of India following the Battle of Karnal (1739), resulted in the loss of Afghanistan in its entirety. Nevertheless, taken as a whole, the Mughals largely succeeded, over the course of their rule, in maintaining a scientifically sound frontier in the Northwest — one that played a crucial role in preserving the territorial integrity of the Mughal Empire.