Intelligence, Language, and Political Access:

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Intelligence, Language, and Political Access

• Information gathering and Empire, 1770s-1830

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Imperial Information and Debate

• Historians of the British Empire point out that
  after Plassey British expansion hit several
  walls
• Mysore wars4 battles against Hyder Ali and his
  son Tipu Sultan
• Maratha warslast into 1815, included 3 wars,
  numerous battles and raids
• Review past histories that stress military
  superiority, such historians point out that
  opponents of the British such as Tipu Sultan in
  Mysore, the Marathas, Sikhs all had appropriated
  and innovated such advancements

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Mobility of information Technology

• In Mysore Haidar Ali, a former military commander
  took over the state of Mysore
• Created a modern military, hired French advisors
  to update artillery, tutor his son Tipu
• Tipu continued to implement new reforms and put
  up a fierce resistance to BritishOnly joint
  campaigns of Marathas, local rulers, allied with
  the EIC defeated him
• Such allies were crucial in providing logistical
  information and intelligence

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S. Asian Information Systems

• South Asian systems were paradoxically both open,
  but due to their specialized linguistic and
  segmented nature difficult to master.
• Created during the Mughal era to incorporate
  local knowledge into a common Persian court
  system
• Issue of mastering 100s of dialects over 20 major
  language groups
• Relied on specialized categories of agents,
  runners, newswriters, clerks, ambassadors, some
  of whom could also be termed spies

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Replication across ranks

• Each noble, elite Merchant or warlord would hire
  the following
• Akhbarnawis or newswritersposted at each court
  and every important town
• Several runners (qassid) to deliver mail
• Clerks (munshis) skilled in courtly languages as
  well as local dialects, also in cyphers
• Representatives (vakils) privy to the more
  sensitive details of private affairs and needs

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Geographical and Climatic Barriers

• During Monsoon season, late June-August many
  roads and routes impassable on wheeled carriages
  or horses
• Complicated network of small states in 18th
  century require local knowledge and contacts to
  ensure safe delivery of mail and information
• Information easier to gather in Gangetic plains,
  more difficult in the rugged terrrain of the
  Deccan and the mountains of the northwest

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Chambal area in Central India
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Why did the EIC have trouble with Information
sources?

• By the 1770s growing contempt for indigenous
  knowledge systems and the information order
• Few officers trained in local dialect, even
  orientalists largely studied Sanskrit, Persian,
  Bengali, or Urduwhich had limited use in other
  regions
• Most skilled officers were those of mixed
  background or postings in hinterlandsbut their
  indigenized lifestyles were viewed as problematic
• Top levels of officials did not value or use
  their insights very well.
• Complaints about cost of hiring that many
  employees

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Emphasis on European methods

• Trignometric surveys sanctioned soon after the
  Plassey years, but funding issues and access to
  non-EIC areas prove problematic
• Reliance on horse-power and carriage postal
  system did not work as efficiently
• Certain amount of fraud and misdirection against
  the EIC was successful due to their ignorance of
  local customs
• The issue of cultural competence becomes a
  serious problem by the 1780s for officers
• Awareness of difficulties of disguise and access

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What kinds of Information necessary for expansion?

• Size of troops and resources of rivals (revenue,
  supplies, allies, etc)
• Power factions in rival courts, potential for
  recruiting allies or spies
• Routes for attacks, retreats, or supply lines
• Sources for food, fodder, shelter along routes
• Strategic areas (such as elevated spots) for use
  of cannons and guns, or flat plains for cavalry
  action
• Disposition of local villages and
  peasantshostile, neutral, or friendly
• Nature of relationships between court and local
  magnates such as zamindars

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Barriers for Mastery for EIC

• This level of knowledge needed vastly different
  levels of cultural competency
• Specialized knowledge of courtly etiquette and
  Persian
• Cordial relationships with local magnates and
  nobility
• Ability to speak multiple local dialects or hire
  those who did
• Be able to retain their loyalty
• Required recruitment of specialized knowledge
  providers, but also that they be paid competitive
  salaries and treated with respect