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The Residents of the British East India Company at Indian Royal Courts, C The Residents of the British East India Company at Indian royal courts, c. 1798-1818 Callie Hannah Wilkinson Wolfson College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge July 2017 i The Residents of the British East India Company at Indian royal courts, c. 1798-1818 Callie Wilkinson, Wolfson College Generations of historians have looked to Bengal, Bombay, and Madras to detect the emergence of the legal and administrative mechanisms that would underpin Britain’s nineteenth-century empire. Yet this focus on ‘British’ India overshadows the very different history of nearly half the Indian subcontinent, which was still ruled by nominally independent monarchs. This dissertation traces the increasingly asymmetrical relationships between the East India Company and neighbouring Indian kingdoms during a period of intensive British imperial expansion, from 1798 to 1818. In so doing, it sheds fresh light on the contested process through which the Company consolidated its political predominance over rival Indian powers, setting a precedent for indirect rule that would inform British policy in Southeast Asia and Africa for years to come. The relationship between the Company and Indian governments was mediated through the figure of the Resident, the Company’s political representative at Indian courts, and the Residents therefore lie at the heart of this dissertation. Given their geographical distance from British administrative centres and their immersion in Indian political culture, the Residents’ experiences can be used to chart the growing pains of an expanding, modernizing empire, and to elucidate the dynamics of cross-cultural interaction and exchange. Based on the letters and papers of the dozen Residents stationed at major Indian courts, this dissertation shows how practical and ideological divisions within the Company regarding the appropriate forms of imperial influence were exacerbated by mutual suspicions resulting from geographical distance and the blurring of personal and public interests in the diplomatic line. This process was further complicated and constrained by the Residents’ reliance on the social and cultural capital of Indian elites and administrators with interests of their own. The Company’s consolidation of political influence at Indian courts was fraught with problems, and the five thematic chapters reflect recurring points of conflict which thread their way through these formative years. These include: the fragility of information networks and the proliferation of rumours; questions about the use of force and the applicability of the law of nations outside Europe; controversies surrounding political pageantry and conspicuous consumption; ambivalent relationships between Residents and their Indian state secretaries; and the Residents’ embroilment in royal family feuds. Ultimately, this dissertation concludes that the imposition of imperial authority at Indian courts was far from smooth, consisting instead of a messy and protracted series of practical experiments based on many competing visions of the ideal forms of influence to be employed in India. ii Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface or specified in the text. Signed: CALLIE WILKINSON Date: 06/07/2017 It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being currently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. Signed: CALLIE WILKINSON Date: 06/07/2017 Statement of Length This dissertation does not exceed the prescribed word limit of 80,000 set by the Degree Committee of the History Faculty. Signed: CALLIE WILKINSON Date: 06/07/2017 iii Acknowledgements Like the Residents I write about in this dissertation, I too have spent the last four years with an ocean separating me from my family and dearest friends. The resemblance, however, ends there. Whereas the Residents’ letters are full of frustrations and bitter complaints, my time at Cambridge has been very happy, largely because of the people I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by. My chief intellectual debt is to my supervisor, Dr Renaud Morieux, whose curiosity and enthusiasm are truly infectious. This project has benefited immeasurably from his questions and suggestions, particularly his insistence on the big picture. Warm thanks are also due to Dr Norbert Peabody, who offered advice and encouragement at different stages of the project, and Dr Sujit Sivasundaram, who very kindly included me in his graduate reading group. That reading group has been an important source of ideas and inspiration; special thanks go out to Alix Chartrand, Hatice Yildiz, Steph Mawson, James Wilson, and Tom Simpson, who first made me feel welcome. I would be remiss if I did not also mention Dr Elizabeth Elbourne, whose undergraduate lectures and seminars at McGill University first interested me in British history. She probably has no idea how much her warmth and intellectual generosity meant to me as a student, and I’m happy to take this opportunity to thank her properly. A few more practical words of acknowledgement are also in order. Research for this dissertation was made possible by funding from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, along with travel grants from the Royal Historical Society, the Institute of Historical Research, and the Cambridge Faculty of History Members History Trust Fund. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the staff at archives in India and across the UK who put up with my many requests. I’m especially thankful to the archivists at the Allahabad branch of the Uttar Pradesh State Archives, who negotiated the language barrier with patience and grace. There are a few people who, despite having absolutely no interest in the East India Company, were nevertheless vital to the completion of this dissertation. Jamie saw this project through from first to last, and is doubtless even happier than I am that it is finished (for the time being). He made me laugh when the future seemed bleak, and reminded me that there is a wider world outside of books that is well worth appreciating. My greatest thanks, however, are reserved for my parents, Chris and Mary Anne, who worked hard and sacrificed a great deal so I could end up where I am. They may not always understand what my research is about or why I do it, but that just makes me even more grateful for their unquestioning encouragement and support. This dissertation is dedicated to them. iv Contents Map of India in 1795 vi Map of India in 1823 vii Residents viii Rulers ix Governors-General ix Glossary x Abbreviations xii Note on transliteration xii Introduction 1 1. The origins of the Residency system: A vital chapter in a global story ......................... 4 2. Viewing imperial expansion through the eyes of its agents ........................................... 7 3. Diplomatic culture beyond treaty-making and courtly ceremonial .............................. 13 4. Cultural borderlands and the space between resistance and collaboration .................. 16 5. Methods and sources .................................................................................................... 20 6. Summary ...................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 1. The conquest of knowledge and the intricacies of information management 28 1. Decorum, deception, and the epistolary arts ................................................................ 30 2. The power of rumour, or, ‘the tattle in the suburbs of the city’ ................................... 39 3. Between private disclosures and public avowals ......................................................... 49 4. Silences and misrepresentations in the official archive ............................................... 56 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 2. Politics by other means: The use of force in theory and practice 65 1. Spirals of violence ........................................................................................................ 67 2. The cultural coordinates of the subsidiary alliance system .......................................... 71 3. Manifestations in diplomatic practice .......................................................................... 82 4. Debating the pedagogical value of violence ................................................................ 88 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 94 Chapter 3. Gift-giving, grandeur, and the ideological underpinnings of Residency budgets 96 1. The symbolism and mechanics of gift exchange ......................................................... 98 2. A comparison of Indian and British gift-giving regimes ..........................................
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