We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 January 2025
Abstract This chapter examines practices of British-South Asian diplomacy and Indian initiatives for inclusive international relations, with a specific focus on the Triple Alliance between the Maratha Confederacy, Hyderabad, and the British East India Company against Mysore (1790-92). It shows both the existence of shared legal principles and the possibility of commensurability between diplomatic frameworks across cultures. These intercultural encounters stand against nineteenth-century narratives that the European international emerged in a unique endogenous evolution into which non-Western polities did not fit. Instead, the chapter argues, the Triple Alliance should be perceived as a thwarted Westphalian moment, in the sense it was a missed opportunity to integrate South Asian and European states into a joint family of nations built around a globally inclusive international law.
Key words: intercultural diplomacy, eighteenth-century India, legal pluralism, treaty making
In February 1792, a sea of tents, divided in three sectors, representing the Maratha Confederacy, Hyderabad, and the British East India Company (EIC), was set up in a camp near the Mysore capital of Sringapatam. This was the Triple Alliance, a joint military campaign set up against the ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. With Tipu's defeat, the ground was prepared for peace negotiations. Hyderabad, the Marathas, and the EIC were very different allies, yet they acted as a united diplomatic front, one that shared a set of normative legal principles in foreign relations. The Alliance cited Tipu's expansionism and his treaty violation as legitimate reasons to go to war, which they agreed upon in a multilateral treaty signed on equal terms. Moreover, the allies pledged to strictly abide by this treaty and agreed not to enter in any separate peace negotiations with Tipu Sultan. A major issue in peace negotiations was whether the Alliance should destroy the defeated dynasty and divide its realm among them. The three parties eventually agreed that Tipu should retain his throne over a considerably reduced domain. Although no party explicitly referred to the concept of a “balance of power,” much indicates that this is what they had in mind.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
