section_path: Reign/Foreign relations
section_name: Foreign relations
paragraph_text: Foreign relations
  
  Aurangzeb sent diplomatic missions to Mecca in 1659 and 1662, with money and gifts for the Sharif. He also sent alms in 1666 and 1672 to be distributed in Mecca and Medina. Historian Naimur Rahman Farooqi writes that, "By 1694, Aurangzeb's ardour for the Sharifs of Mecca had begun to wane; their greed and rapacity had thoroughly disillusioned the Emperor... Aurangzeb expressed his disgust at the unethical behavior of the Sharif who appropriated all the money sent to the Hijaz for his own use, thus depriving the needy and the poor." According to English traveller named John Fryar, Aurangzeb considered that despite his enormous power on land, it was cheaper to establish a reciprocal relation with the naval forces of the Portuguese empire, to secure the sea interest of ships in Mughal territory, so he did not built large naval forces.
  
  Aurangzeb sent diplomatic missions to Mecca in 1659 and 1662, with money and gifts for the Sharif. He also sent alms in 1666 and 1672 to be distributed in Mecca and Medina. Historian Naimur Rahman Farooqi writes that, "By 1694, Aurangzeb's ardour for the Sharifs of Mecca had begun to wane; their greed and rapacity had thoroughly disillusioned the Emperor... Aurangzeb expressed his disgust at the unethical behavior of the Sharif who appropriated all the money sent to the Hijaz for his own use, thus depriving the needy and the poor." According to English traveller named John Fryar, Aurangzeb considered that despite his enormous power on land, it was cheaper to establish a reciprocal relation with the naval forces of the Portuguese empire, to secure the sea interest of ships in Mughal territory, so he did not built large naval forces.