Ottoman Sultans refused to sponsor Mughal pretenders out of realpolitik prudence

Evidence

Baysunkur, however, went on de­ manding an army from the Sultan, to win him the throne of India. The Sultan was not interested. His relations with Shah Jehan, he said, were good, and the Mughal Emperor had already sent him two embassies, with gifts and protesta­ tions of friendship. In any case such an expedition, to so remote a country, would be enormously difficult, and even if one could be sent, it would be wasted effort. Baysunkur’s incapacity was well known even if an Ottoman army placed him on his throne, he would soon lose it through his own folly. Eventually Baysunkur gave up hope of winning Turkish support and left the country. “What became of him is not known for certain,” says Naima, “but some say he became a dervish.” — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 604

Categorization

• QUESTION: Counterweight to the later pan-Islamic trope of Ottoman-Mughal Sunni brotherhood: here the Sultan explicitly prioritizes his good relations with the sitting Mughal emperor over aiding a fellow Muslim prince.