Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Mughal-Portuguese Alliance: Guns, Jesuits, and Diplomacy
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Aurangzeb's military campaigns, his tax policies, his religious edicts. But there's a thread we haven't really pulled on yet — his relationship with the Portuguese. Most people think of the Mughals and Europeans as rivals, especially the English and French, but the Portuguese were actually a key military partner for much of Aurangzeb's reign. Luna: Really? I thought the Portuguese were mainly focused on Goa and the coast — how did they even connect with the Mughal court? Lucas: That's exactly the thing — they were coastal, but they had something the Mughals desperately wanted: advanced naval power and European-style artillery. By the 1660s, Aurangzeb was importing Portuguese gunners and cannons, called 'firangi' in Persian sources, to help crack the Deccan forts. The Portuguese were happy to supply them because they needed Mughal goodwill to protect their own trading interests, especially at Surat. Lucas: The connection was facilitated by Jesuit missionaries at the Mughal court. The Jesuits had been there since Akbar's time, and they acted as intermediaries. One of the most fascinating figures is Father Manoel Godinho, who travelled between Goa and Delhi multiple times, carrying letters and negotiating arms deals. Lucas: This show is ad-free and it stays that way because of listeners like you. If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, and you find value in these conversations about South Asia and the Mughal world, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep things going — no pressure, just appreciation. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference. So, Father Godinho — what was his actual role? Was he a diplomat, a spy, a priest? Lucas: All of the above, really. The Jesuits were the closest thing to a permanent European embassy at the Mughal court. They provided astronomical knowledge, medical advice, and sometimes even acted as interpreters. But in the 1670s and 80s, their most practical function was brokering the purchase of Portuguese cannon and hiring of Portuguese gunners. Lucas: Aurangzeb's siege of Bijapur in 1686 is a perfect example. The Mughal army had been battering the city walls for months with little success. Then a contingent of Portuguese artillerymen arrived with heavy bronze cannons, and within weeks, the walls were breached. The French traveller François Bernier, who was in India at the time, noted that the Portuguese gunners were considered the best in Asia. Luna: Wait — Bernier was actually there? I thought he left India before that siege. Lucas: You're right, he had left by then. But he wrote about the earlier use of Portuguese artillery under Shah Jahan, and his accounts were still widely read. The main source for the Bijapur siege is the maasir i alamgiri, the official court history, which mentions the 'firangi topkhana' — the European cannon foundry — that Aurangzeb established near Delhi. Lucas: Now, the alliance wasn't all smooth sailing. The Portuguese had their own agenda. They were still trying to control the Indian Ocean trade, and they often clashed with the English and the Dutch. Aurangzeb's naval commander, the Sidi of Janjira, was a rival of the Portuguese in the Arabian Sea. So there was a constant tension between cooperation on land and competition at sea. Luna: Did the Portuguese ever try to convert Aurangzeb? I know the Jesuits were always hoping to convert the Mughal emperors. Lucas: Oh, absolutely. They sent missions specifically aimed at converting him. In the 1660s, Father Godinho presented Aurangzeb with a beautifully illustrated Bible and argued for the truth of Christianity. Aurangzeb was polite but non-committal — he allowed the Jesuits to build a church in Delhi, but he never showed any serious interest in conversion. For him, the alliance was purely pragmatic. Lucas: In fact, Aurangzeb's religious orthodoxy made him suspicious of the Jesuits' influence. He once wrote a letter to the Portuguese viceroy in Goa complaining that the Jesuits were trying to 'pervert' his subjects. But he still needed their guns, so he kept the relationship going. Luna: So it was a transactional thing. Did the Portuguese get anything concrete out of it? Lucas: Yes, several things. First, they got protection for their trading posts in Bengal and on the Coromandel coast. Second, they secured the right to trade in Surat without paying the higher tariffs imposed on other Europeans. And third, they got Aurangzeb's support against the English, who were trying to muscle in on their trade routes. Lucas: There's a great story from 1695, when the English East India Company tried to blockade Surat to force better terms. Aurangzeb, at the Portuguese urging, sent a force of Mughal infantry and Portuguese gunners to drive the English ships off. The English backed down, and the Portuguese gained favour. Luna: That's interesting — so the Portuguese were using their military tech as leverage in trade negotiations. Lucas: Exactly. But by the early 1700s, the relationship started to fray. The Portuguese were declining as a global power, and their resources in India were stretched thin. The Marathas, under the Peshwas, began attacking Portuguese territories in the Konkan. Aurangzeb, preoccupied with the Deccan wars, couldn't help them as much as before. Lucas: The final blow came after Aurangzeb's death in 1707. His successors were weaker, and the Portuguese found themselves isolated. The British and the Dutch soon eclipsed them in Indian politics. But for a few decades, the Mughal-Portuguese alliance was a crucial — and often overlooked — factor in Aurangzeb's military success. Luna: It's wild to think that the same Jesuits who were trying to convert him were also the ones supplying the cannon that smashed Bijapur's walls. Lucas: That's the paradox of early modern diplomacy — religion and realpolitik were always tangled together. And in Aurangzeb's case, the need for European firepower trumped any theological reservations he might have had. Luna: So what happened to the Portuguese gunners after Aurangzeb's reign? Did they stay in Mughal service? Lucas: Some did, but many drifted into the service of regional kingdoms — the Nawab of Bengal, the Nizam of Hyderabad, even the Marathas. They became a kind of mercenary class, and their skills were passed down. By the mid-18th century, Indian armies were training their own artillerymen, and the European monopoly on expertise was broken. Lucas: It's a reminder that history isn't just about big battles and famous names. Sometimes the most influential forces are the quiet ones — the missionaries, the merchants, the gunners who show up with a new technology that changes everything.