Ottoman India ?

In this thread, as you can see for yourself by clicking that link, there was a discussion about why the OTL Ottoman performance in Indian Ocean wasn't great at all. These were basically the summary :
1. Lack of good ports or even good maritime fortresses
2. Lack of major shipbuilding on the Indian ocean
3. Have to keep fighting wars in Europe, the Med and Persia anyway
(Credit goes to RGB for the threee points just above)

Wonder if the three factors were able to be overcome, how exactly much better off will the Ottoman performance in Indian Ocean be ? Will it be enough for Ottomans to aquire at least a quarter part of the subcontinent ? Or is there something else to be worked on besides the above three ? However I certainly can see that the presence of local muslim Great Power in the region will be a great hindrance for this scenario. What should be done to the Mughals to realize this scenario ?
 
However I certainly can see that the presence of local muslim Great Power in the region will be a great hindrance for this scenario. What should be done to the Mughals to realize this scenario ?

I'd say forget the Mughals - they're likely to be the first conquest in an Ottoman India TL anyway. Rather, I'd say your big questions should be how on earth did the Ottomans manage to defeat (and in all probability annex) Persia so radically as to carve a path west to east through it, and with a capital so far west, can the Ottomans survive with Austria likely to come down on them like a ton of bricks if their armies are 1000 miles away in the middle of nowhere and in no shape to return to face an invasion.
 
Well much like the British I'd imagine that actual Ottoman troop deployment to the subcontinent will be minimal, and it'll the them providing funding and leadership to Indian states, so their won't be much of a reduction of manpower on their other fronts.

If we are assuming the Ottomans arrive by sea (as going through Persia and the Afghani dominated regions would be really hard) I can see them possibly doing quite well - if the Mughals collapse as OTL then they can align with coastal Muslim states that are now under threat from Hindus and Europeans, like the Sultanate of Gujurat and Sind. After that theres really too many factors involved to say how far they get or want to get...
 
Well much like the British I'd imagine that actual Ottoman troop deployment to the subcontinent will be minimal, and it'll the them providing funding and leadership to Indian states, so their won't be much of a reduction of manpower on their other fronts.

If we are assuming the Ottomans arrive by sea (as going through Persia and the Afghani dominated regions would be really hard) I can see them possibly doing quite well - if the Mughals collapse as OTL then they can align with coastal Muslim states that are now under threat from Hindus and Europeans, like the Sultanate of Gujurat and Sind. After that theres really too many factors involved to say how far they get or want to get...

I could actually see this. If the Ottomans played their cards right, including the Sultan using his title as Caliph of Islam for all it was worth it could slowly play the Hindu and Islamic powers against each other, while slowly digesting the various states into their empire, similar to what Britain did.
 

Philip

Donor
If we are assuming the Ottomans arrive by sea (as going through Persia and the Afghani dominated regions would be really hard) I can see them possibly doing quite well -

What time frame are we talking about? The Ottomans will need naval dominance in the Indian Ocean to achieve this, and that will be hard to achieve once the European become established.
 
If Selim I had lived longer, Persia would have been in deep doo-doo. Dominance of Persia would have made power-projection India-ward possible, but in this period the Mughals were a serious going concern, and I don't see the Ottomans attacking India.

Building up a relationship with them could help fend off European domination, though. A Mughal-Ottoman alliance would surely have been hugely beneficial to both parties.
 
Building up a relationship with them could help fend off European domination, though. A Mughal-Ottoman alliance would surely have been hugely beneficial to both parties.

In my Ottoman-Indian Ocean TL (which I have yet to continue) I plan on having just that happen with the Ottomans building a close alliance with the Mughals and where the two empires team up, to fight off both European powers and rival Indian powers. In fact they get so close at one point that the Ottoman sultan will marry a Mughal begum producing a possible heir to both the Ottoman and Mughal dominions! :)
 
I'd say forget the Mughals - they're likely to be the first conquest in an Ottoman India TL anyway. Rather, I'd say your big questions should be how on earth did the Ottomans manage to defeat (and in all probability annex) Persia so radically as to carve a path west to east through it, and with a capital so far west, can the Ottomans survive with Austria likely to come down on them like a ton of bricks if their armies are 1000 miles away in the middle of nowhere and in no shape to return to face an invasion.

If you look at the OP once again, you can see that I started this thread by talking about Indian Ocean. Should be a good hint, no ?
 
If Selim I had lived longer, Persia would have been in deep doo-doo. Dominance of Persia would have made power-projection India-ward possible, but in this period the Mughals were a serious going concern, and I don't see the Ottomans attacking India.

Building up a relationship with them could help fend off European domination, though. A Mughal-Ottoman alliance would surely have been hugely beneficial to both parties.

Should this scenario must be done with Mughal's assistance ? 'Cause the way I see it, if they will remain Orthodox Sunni power it'll create more limited room for Ottomans to expand in India.
 
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