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The Ottomans sent expeditions as far south as Tanzania and as far east as Sumatra, and even considered building a Suez Canal to exterminate the Portuguese and dominate the Indian Ocean.

The Persians did lack a navy, but that's excusable since Persia has a fairly tiny coastline. Still, the Safavid government was fairly interested in the ocean and even sent embassies to London and Thailand.

The Mughals, as far as I can tell, had no central fleet to speak of outside the immediate shores of major ports--not even the limited ones maintained by the Ming or Qing. When the Mughals needed even a brown-water navy, they tended to rely on Europeans, Africans, or local marcher lords. The Mughals sent no embassy to Europe like the Persians or Turks, and despite being the closest to Southeast Asia, they sent no expedition, military or otherwise, in that direction.

This is despite the Mughals having the largest Indian Ocean ports and the longest Indian Ocean coastline out of all three gunpowder empires.

Why this neglect?
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