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WI: Ottoman India

lerk

Well-known member
Alfred Toynbee once wrote that had the Ottomans chose to build up their navy rather than focus on conquering Vienna, then they could've been a force in India. Suppose one Ottoman Sultan in either the 16th or 17th century takes control and has a fascination with sea life and the ocean. He builds up the Ottoman Navy, and eventually decides to establish an Ottoman outpost around India's coast, which his successors choose to expand as time goes on.

1) Where will the Ottomans most likely land? I would say somewhere close to Gujarat and Maharashtra, it could keep a check on the Portuguese who were also expanding into India around this time. In fact, I imagine that you will see a lot more Portuguese-Ottoman conflicts ITTL.

2) With the Ottomans not focusing as much on Central and Eastern Europe, how does this impact the history of the region?

3) How will this impact the Ottoman-Safavid Wars, now that the Ottoman Empire is decidedly the master of the Arabian Sea?

4) How far will the Ottomans expand in India? How will the Ottoman colony of India look like? There will be a much larger Turkic influence in Indic languages, not just Hindustani but probably Marathi, Gujarati, and others depending on where the Ottomans specifically choose to land.
 
Presumably Toynbee is referring to the Ottomans otl invasion of India in 1538 and arguing that more investment in their indian ocean fleet could have seen them win the siege of Diu and carry out their plans for a larger campaign.

It's been a while since I've read 'The Ottoman age of exploration' about their maritime campaigns in the indian ocean but I dont think you need a huge switch in priorities as opposed to a few more ships and some better luck.
 
Presumably Toynbee is referring to the Ottomans otl invasion of India in 1538 and arguing that more investment in their indian ocean fleet could have seen them win the siege of Diu and carry out their plans for a larger campaign.

It's been a while since I've read 'The Ottoman age of exploration' about their maritime campaigns in the indian ocean but I dont think you need a huge switch in priorities as opposed to a few more ships and some better luck.
Was going to post here about The Ottoman Age of Exploration.

But yeah it probably doesn't require too big an effort to get them into the game.
 
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