Ambassadors, Envoys and Emissaries
Kautilya, a
teacher at the ancient University of Taxila (300 BC) and author of the Arthashastra – a survival
guide for statesmen, describes the role
of an ambassador. He must be of noble birth, above suspicion, well-read,
well-informed and eloquent. He must have an impressive personality, feel no
fear and even if under threat, must faithfully deliver the message of his King.
His role was
to maintain treaties, issue ultimatums, gain friends, intrigue, sow dissension,
gather information, befriend the enemy's officers. He made military assessments
of the country, its strengths and weaknesses, established a spy network
disguised as ascetics, merchants, physicians, and heretics. He should note any
intrigues, loyalties and disloyalties amongst the people, gather information by
observing the talk of beggars, the intoxicated or at places of pilgrimage and
temples, and by deciphering paintings and writings. The emissary must unite the disunited,
disunite the united, and create dissension in the enemy's camp.
While later descriptions are not in such
chilling detail, the role of the ambassador has not changed. The Turkic Khanate of Central Asia from the 9–13 AD, whose cultural influence
spread both east and west, presents a more idealized role for an ambassador. He
must be handsome, neat and trim, soft-spoken and honey-tongued. He should be
valiant and high-minded, intelligent and well-educated, proficient in foreign
languages and scripts, well versed in poetry and science, archery and hunting,
polo and chess, have good manners and refrain from intoxicating drinks.
Hermes, the messenger of the Greek Olympian gods, is
considered the father of all ambassadors. He was the herald of the gods of
Mount Olympus, conveying messages between the gods, the underworld, and to
mortals..
In ancient times, the ambassador, a sole representative of
his ruler, with a handful of staff and servants, undertook long and arduous
journeys through dangerous lands, unsure of the reception he would receive. It
became essential to establish rules of conduct to protect the emissary – in
today’s terms, diplomatic immunity. The earliest example of rules for protection
were applied to Wen Amun, emissary of the Pharaoh Ramesses XI around 1000 BC. Disregarding
this rule can have consequences - the
Mongols invaded and destroyed the Khwarezmid Empire after their ambassadors
were mistreated.
The Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) sent and received envoys and strictly forbade harming them.
Ambassadors were an important aspect of the expansion of Islam. The Quran
recounts that Bilquis, Queen of Sheba, sent a delegation bearing gifts to
Hazrat Sulaiman, who saw it as an insult, and an intention to bribe him, and
sent back the gifts and the delegation. This creates a precedent for expulsion
of a diplomat, while preserving his legal immunity.
The Arabic
word for ambassador is Safeer, one who arbitrates peace between nations from the
root word, safr, to lift off a veil and make evident. The role of the Safeer is
to bring out what is in both the proponent’s hearts and clear up the matter.
This noble intention does not preclude the subtle exchange
of insults, of which an interesting example is the story of an Ottoman Sultan
who ran out of funds to complete a masjid.
His rival, the Shah of Persia, sent rubies and emeralds to sneer at his
predicament. The Ottoman Sultan had them
ground up and mixed in the mortar.
As the European Age of Discovery got underway, delegations
to distant lands gained prominence. While most were intended as cultural
encounters, and to make nations understand one another, there was also a dark
side of deception and political expansion. The Spanish conquistador, Hernando
Cortez, posed as an ambassador, but in reality intended the destruction of the
Aztec Empire. Sir Thomas Roe worked tirelessly in the court of Emperor Jahangir,
paving the way for the establishment of the East India Company. The Moroccan
traveler, Ibn Battuta, was pressurized by Muhammad Tughlaq to be his ambassador
to China, but it took him over two years of dangerous adventures before he
arrived in Beijing.
Hans Holbein the Younger’s painting The Ambassadors ( 1553) is full of visual symbols -
navigational instruments, a globe, an Ottoman carpet, a book of mathematics -
that suggest the political, mercantile,
colonial, scientific and religious matters that occupied Renaissance Europe,
that an ambassador would have to be knowledgeable about. By the 17 Century, the
Ambassador became a permanent presence in countries. In 1930 the Russian, Alexandra Killontai, became the world’s first female
ambassador. Rana Liaquat Ali Khan became Pakistan’s first female Ambassador in 1954.
Modern diplomacy is governed by the need for balance of
power, as the world superpowers compete with each other for global
influence. The role of the meeting of
nations, has been entrusted to cultural ambassadors in the arts, cinema,
sports, or goodwill ambassadors appointed by the United Nations. In the age of
global travel, travelers become ambassadors for their country, religion or
culture, challenging or reinforcing stereotypes.
Durriya Kazi
Karachi
May 7, 2022
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