Q. Consider the following statements:

1. Safavids and Ottomans were immediate neighbours of Mughal Empire.
2. Uzbeks were a constant source of trouble for the Mughal Empire.

Which of the above is / are correct?
Answer: Only 2
Notes: Ottoman Empire was centered in the modern Anatolia and spread into Europe and West Asia from there. Safavids, a Shia power, were based on modern Persia. Uzbek khanates controlled the trans-oxiana area which roughly corresponds to modern Central Asia. So, Safavids and Uzbeks were the immediate neighbours of Mughals. So, statement 1 is incorrect. Uzbeks under Shaibani Khan, had expelled Babur from his homeland in Farghana. When he was residing in Kabul, he still faced the Uzbek threat. Annoyed at the alliance between the Mughals and Safavids, Uzbeks occasionally stirred up the fanatic Afghan and Baluchi tribesmen living on the north-western border of Mughal Empire. Alarmed by the activities of Abdullah Khan Uzbek, Akbar spent a considerable time near the north-western border at Lahore. So, statement 2 is correct.