The Botany of Empire in the Long Eighteenth Century (original) (raw)

Abstract

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This research examines the role of botany in international diplomacy during the late eighteenth century, focusing on a 1788 botanical exchange between Louis XVI of France and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. It highlights how the collection and exchange of plants were utilized as diplomatic tools that reflected imperial ambitions and economic objectives. Through detailed correspondence and records housed at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, the study reveals the complexities of botanical diplomacy, the challenges faced in plant transportation, and the broader implications for the understanding of early modern science and empire.

FAQs

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What were the economic motivations for the Franco-Mysorean botanical exchange in 1788?add

The correspondence reveals that both Tipu Sultan and Louis XVI sought to bolster their imperial agendas and economic objectives through reciprocal botanical gifts, highlighting mutual anglophobia as a motivation.

How did the gardeners' letters inform our understanding of botany's role in diplomacy?add

The letters narrate the interpersonal dynamics between diplomats and gardeners, showing how plant exchanges were intricately tied to economic and imperial ambitions.

What challenges did the French face in fulfilling Tipu Sultan's botanical requests?add

Logistical issues, including the survival of delicate plant specimens during a six-month voyage and resistance from local officials, complicated the fulfillment of Tipu's botanical requests.

In what ways did the mission reveal the interplay between social hierarchy and botany?add

The mission underscored how individuals across various social ranks, including gardeners and ship captains, influenced botanical diplomacy and state ambitions.

What insights do these botanical exchanges provide regarding knowledge transfer during the Enlightenment?add

The exchanges reveal that Tipu Sultan's interest in French horticultural expertise reflects a broader pursuit of knowledge transfer pivotal for economic advancements in Mysore.

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References (63)

  1. -58. For translations of some later Hukmnama, issued in 1793 and 1794, see Iftikhar A. Khan, "The Regulations of Tipu Sultan for His State Trading Enterprise," in Confronting Colonialism: Resistance and Modernisation under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, ed. Irfan Habib (London: Anthem Press, 2002), 148-60.
  2. Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xi-xii, xvi. Tipu Sultan was also fighting against the Marathas, but he believed his armies were capable of dealing with them without Turkish and French assistance.
  3. Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xiv-xviii;
  4. Habib, Confronting Colonialism, xxviii-xxxv; and B. Sheik Ali, "Developing Agriculture: Land Tenure under Tipu Sultan," in Habib, Confronting Colonialism, 161-64.
  5. See the contributions to Habib, Confronting Colonialism.
  6. Christopher Bayly in his book Empire and Informa- tion argues for the significance of knowledge transfer to imperial expansion, and this is, of course, the backdrop to my analysis here. See Christopher A. Bayly, Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Com- munication in India, 1780-1870 (Cambridge: Cam bridge University Press, 1996).
  7. Joel Mokyr, The Gifts of Athena: Historical Origins of the Knowledge Economy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002); and Liliane Hilaire-Pérez, L'invention tech- nique au Siècle des Lumières (Paris: Albin Michel, 2000).
  8. "Statement of Instructions (Hukmnama)," 57-58.
  9. For a parallel example of the attempted diplomatic use of the industrial revolution knowledge economy, see Maxine Berg, "Britain, Industry, and Perceptions of China: Matthew Boulton, 'Useful Knowledge' and the Macartney Embassy to China, 1792-94," Journal of Global History 1 (2006): 269-88.
  10. César Henri de La Luzerne, Versailles, to André Thouin, Paris, August 8, 1788, MS 307, MNHN: "Les ambassadeurs de Tippo Sultan demandent . . . des graines de fleurs de toute espèces des semences de lin, et de chanvre, les arbres fruitiers particuliers à l'europe [sic]. . . . Voudriez vous vous charger de preparer [sic] cet envoi. . . . Ils desirent [sic] de plus des hommes d'art, un medecin [sic] un chirur gien habile, des garcons [sic] jardiniers. Je vous propose encore de vous occuper de cette recherche. " 23 The ambassadors and their entourage eventually departed from Brest on November 14, 1788, and arrived in Pondicherry on May 11, 1789.
  11. For more on French foreign policy at this time, see Kaiser, "From Fiscal Crisis to Revolution. "
  12. Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xvi; and Habib, Confronting Colonialism, 44-45.
  13. Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xiii.
  14. See Bayly, Empire and Information, for similar strategies among the British.
  15. Draft letter from André Thouin to Pouget, October 2, 1788, MS 307, MNHN; and draft letter from André Thouin, Paris, to Jean-Nicolas Céré, Îsle de France, October 14, 1788, MS 307, MNHN.
  16. Thomas E. Kaiser, "From Fiscal Crisis to Revolution: The Court and French Foreign Policy, 1787-1789," in From Deficit to Deluge: The Origins of the French Revolution, ed.
  17. Thomas E. Kaiser and Dale Van Kley (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011), 139-64.
  18. Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, "Tipu Sultan's Embassy to Con- stantinople in 1787," in Confronting Colonialism: Resistance and Modernisation under Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan, ed. Irfan Habib (London: Anthem Press, 2002), 69-78;
  19. Kate Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997);
  20. and Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xi-xii.
  21. Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, xi-xii.
  22. 9 For the Tipu's claims to Jacobin politics, see Jean Boutier, "Les 'lettres de créances' du corsaire Ripaud: Un 'club jacobin' à Srirangapatnam (Inde), mai-juin 1797," in Le monde créole: Peuplement, sociétés et condition humaine, XVII e -XX e siècles; Mélanges offerts à Hubert Gerbeau, ed. Jacques Weber (Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2005), 35-47;
  23. and Brittlebank, Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy, ch. 5. On the Enlightenment, see the brief discussion of Tipu Sultan in Sebastian Conrad, "Enlightenment in Global History: A Historiographical Critique," American Historical Review 117, no. 4 (2012): 998-1027, esp. 1013 and fig. 1. 10 For the looting and dispersal of objects, see Maya Jasanoff, Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750-1850 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), ch. 6. 11 Ibid.; Susan Stronge, Tipu's Tigers (London: V&A Pub- lishing, 2009);
  24. and Anne Buddle, ed., The Tiger and the Thistle: Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India, 1760-1800 (Edin- burgh: National Gallery of Scotland, 1999).
  25. Exceptions to this are, of course, dried specimens pre- served in herbaria and those reproduced through botan- ical art. Modern disciplinary divisions, however, mean that such specimens are invariably stored in separate institutions and are rarely considered in conjunction with records about other elements of a collection, which are preserved elsewhere. An archetypal example of this is the collection of Hans Sloane, which was divided between the British Museum, the Natural History Museum (London), and the British Library. The "Reconstructing Sloane" project is currently renewing the connections between Sloane's collection. See http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research- curation/science-facilities/cahr/sloane/index.html, ac cessed July 21, 2013.
  26. To my knowledge, the botanical and horticultural records for eighteenth-century Seringapatam have not survived. The paucity of such sources makes the archive studied here-comprised of letters exchanged between French gardeners and state officials involved in arranging the botanical consignment in 1788 and 1789-particularly interesting.
  27. "Statement of Instructions (Hukmnama) addressed to Muhammad Darvesh Khan, Akbar ' Ali Khan, and Muhammad 'Usman,'" translated by Iqbal Husain and reprinted in Habib, State and Diplomacy under Tipu Sultan, 41 "Note des artistes et ouvriers," August 26, 1788, MS 307, MNHN. 42 [André Thouin], "Etat de ce que contient la Caisse No. 3 Expedié du Jardin du Roi le 3 Octobre 1788," MS 307, MNHN. The list is written in the vernacular, which unfor- tunately means we cannot be absolutely certain which botanical species Thouin sent. 43 Phormium tenax had long been used by Maoris prior to its "discovery" by Europeans. It was first published in European taxonomies by Johann Reinhold and Georg Forster in 1775; see http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/ record/kew-284248 and http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/ 1966/flax/page-3, both accessed February 8, 2014. Joseph Banks was so delighted with Phormium that he had himself depicted draped in a cape made from its fibers in Benjamin West's striking portrait of 1771-72, made after Banks's return from the Endeavour voyage. See Patricia Fara, "Images of a Man of Science," History Today 48 (Octo ber 1998): 42n49. The portrait is in the Usher Gallery, Lincoln, United Kingdom. 44 [André Thouin], "Etat de ce que contient la Caisse No. 3 Expedié du Jardin du Roi le 3 Octobre 1788," MS 307, MNHN.
  28. Charles Grant, Viscount de Vaux, The History of Mau- ritius; or, The Isle of France, and the Neighbouring Islands: From Their First Discovery to the Present Time (London: Bulmer, Nichol, Wright, and Uphill, 1801), 98; and Spary, "Of Nutmegs and Botanists," 189-90.
  29. Pouget [?] to André Thouin [?], August 25, 1789, fols. 1r-1v, MS 307, MNHN: "Ils causeront aussi sur les graines de chanvre et de lin, et les moyens d'etablir [sic] les cultures dans l'Inde. " 47 Now known as the Sir Seewoogsagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden.
  30. Pierre Mulot, Île de France, to André Thouin, March 12, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Il nous a dit qui [sic] fairoit tous soin possible pour nous donner tous ce qui feroit plai- sir aux embassadeurs mais il nous a di[t] que cy [i.e., si] il avoir une letre [sic] du comte de la Luzerne qui [sic] doneroit [sic] le muscadie & canalier et gyraflier [sic] mais qui ne pouvoit pas donner ce trois espece [sic]. " 49 André Thouin, Paris, to Jean-Nicolas Céré, Île de France, October 14, 1788, fol. 1r, MS 307, MNHN: "Ces Jardiniers ont aussi l'ordre de sa charger des arbres à Epicier que vous voudriez Bien leur procurer du Jardin du Roi de l'Isle de France et pour lesquels le ministre vous à ecrit. " Note that Céré would conventionally receive orders from La Luzerne, who, as the minister of the marine, was his direct superior, and not from Thouin.
  31. Pierre Mulot, Île de France, to André Thouin, March 12, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Il di[t] que si les englois [sic] venoit enprandre ce pays ces plantes aurois prise [sic] que cela feroit tort a la nation. "
  32. Guillaume Luhrman and Pierre Mulot, Île de France, to André Thouin, Paris, April 7, 1789, MS 307, MNHN.
  33. Lucien Bély, Espions et ambassadeurs au temps de Louis XIV (Paris: Fayard, 1990), 330-31; and E. C. Spary, Utopia's Garden: French Natural History from Old Regime to Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 67-68.
  34. Catherine Gaziello, L'expédition de Lapérouse, 1785- 1788: Replique française aux voyages de Cook (Paris: CTHS, 1994);
  35. and Julia Ferloni, Lapérouse: Voyage autour du monde (Paris: Conti, 2005).
  36. For further development of these connections, see Londa Schiebinger and Claudia Swan, eds., Colonial Botany: Science, Commerce, and Politics in the Early Modern World (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005).
  37. Spary, Utopia's Garden, ch. 2; and Yvonne Letouzey, Le jardin des plantes à la croisée des chemins avec André Thouin, 1747-1824 (Paris: MNHN, 1989).
  38. "Pièces relatives au Projet d'une correspondence agriculto-Botanique entre les différentes Colonies françaises et le Jardin du Roi ébauchée en Janvier 1788.
  39. D'après le Projet de M. le Cte de La Luzerne," MS 308, MNHN.
  40. Pouget (on behalf of the Comte de La Luzerne) to André Thouin, September 2, 1788, MS 307, MNHN. 35 Draft letter from André Thouin to Pierre Mulot and Guillaume Luhrman, November 29, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Ne craignez pas de nous envoyer des choses que nous possedons [sic] deja [sic] cela arrive rarement parce que nous ne sommes pas riches en plantes du climat que vous habitez. "
  41. "Questions à faire à l'administration de chaque colonie française des deux Indes. Par A. Thouin," in "Pièces rela- tives au Projet d'une correspondence agriculto-Botanique entre les différentes Colonies françaises et le Jardin du Roi ébauchée en Janvier 1788. D'après le Projet de M. le Cte de La Luzerne," MS 308, MNHN.
  42. André Thouin, "Instructions pour diriger les Jardiniers dans la Culture des Végétaux en Nature destinés au Nabab Typoo Sultan pendant leur Voyage sur Mer," fol. 20r, MS 307, MNHN.
  43. André Thouin, Paris, to César Henri de La Luzerne, Versailles, August 10, 1788, MS 307, MNHN: "Je suis on ne peut plus flatté de la confiance dont vous avez la bonté de m'honnorer [sic]; les soins que je mettrai à remplir en tout point vos intentions vous seront garents [garent? garan- tis?] de ma reconnoissance [sic]. "
  44. André Thouin, Paris, to César Henri de La Luzerne, Versailles, August 10, 1788, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vais m'oc- cuper sur le champs à rassembler les graines de fleurs, de Plantes Textilles [sic] et les arbres fruitiers que desirent [sic] emporter avec eux les ambassadeurs Indiens. Cet objet me sera facile. "
  45. César Henri de La Luzerne, Versailles, to André Thouin, Paris, August 8, 1788, MS 307, MNHN: "On pour- roit même prefèrer des hommes ayant quelques connois- sances d'histoire naturelle, de Botanique, et qui seroient doublement utiles. " que le Capitene ne l'a pas été voir ni ecri, lui qui ne veut pas s [?] ce soumetre [sic] au capitene [sic]. Cela a cause qui n'est pas venu abord. Efetivement [sic] le capitene es[t] un homme etrement [sic] haut. " 65 Draft letter from André Thouin, Paris, to Pierre Ruffin, October 14, 1789, fol. 1r, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vous les recommande tant pour leur faire d'avoir un peu d'ai- sance sur le vaisseau qui doit les conduire dans l'Inde, leur procurer une nourriture saine et suffisante, que pour leur prouver les moyens de Cultiver et de conserver les végétaux qu'ils transportent avec eux. " 66 Pierre Mulot [?], Île de France, to André Thouin, Paris, March 12, 1789, fol. 4r, MS 307, MNHN: "Notre navigations n'a pas de plus cureuse [?] car notre été mal tout la travercé [sic] nous avons été nourie comme les matelot . . . les inge- nieurs et les deux medecin magoit [magoin? mangaient?] a la tables des officier[s]. " 67 For more on methods of imposing discipline and authority within eighteenth-century collecting networks, see Spary, Utopia's Garden, 84-92.
  46. André Thouin, Paris, to R. C. Barrault, October 29, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Cette Belle Partie des Sciences est presque entierement [sic] neuve pour les Europeens [sic] . . . en faisant diversion a votre travail ordinaire [l'étude de la botanique] vous menagera [sic] dans votre patrie une reception [sic] agréable et un rang distingué dans la republique [sic] des lettres. " 69 Pierre-Rémy-François Willemet, Brest, to André Thouin, October 27, 1788, fol. 2r, MS 307, MNHN: "Si votre crédit auprès du Ministre voulait nous faire recom- mander à tous les principaux de cette ville, ce seroit un nouveau service que vous nous rendriez. " 70 Pierre-Rémy-François Willemet, Brest, to André Thouin, November 5, 1788, fol. 1v, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vous prie donc, Monsieur, de vouloir bien employer l'ami- tié que vous nous avez témoignée, à rappeller [sic] à M. de Pouget, qu'on doit nous fournir à Brest, des magazins [sic] du Roi, non seulement des médicamens [sic], mais encore du papier, du liége [sic], et du fer blanc, et autres choses semblables, mais qu'on ne peut rien nous livrer tant que les ordres du ministre ne seront pas arrivés. " 71 Pierre-Rémy-François Willemet, Brest, to André Thouin, November 5, 1788, fol. 1v, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vous prie donc d'employer toute votre crédit, pour nous faire servir avec promptitude. "
  47. André Thouin, Paris, to Pouget [?], November 12, 1788, MS 307, MNHN.
  48. Pierre Mulot and Guillaume Luhrman, Brest, to André Thouin [received October 30, 1788], postscript from Guillaume Luhrman, fol. 2r, MS 307, MNHN: "Monsieur jan [sic] Thouin je un gras [grace?] a vous demandé [sic] que je obliès [i.e., oublié?][.] S'il [?] vous vudrie [i.e., vou- drez?] avoirre [sic] la bontes de prandre [sic] un garSon jardinier lequel que je deja demande a monsieur jan Thoin [sic] Qui demeur che[z] Monsieur le Marquis d'Conflan. Monsieur M. Zimmerman garson jardinier. "
  49. R. C. Barrault, Île de France, to André Thouin, April 7, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vous annonce que c'est avec beaucoup de peine qu'ils [les jardiniers] on obtenu les Épiseries [sic], malgré les demandes Réiterées qu'en ont faites les ambassadeurs. "
  50. Pierre Mulot to André Thouin, June 4, 1789, fol. 1r, MS 307, MNHN: "Monsieur Ceré nous avoit [sic] don- ner des gyrofliers . . . il sont tous mort . . . il a peries [sic] des plantes d'Europes aussi je crai [sic] que meut [?] tous . . . [avant?] que nous soyons arivez [sic]. "
  51. Pierre Mulot, Pondicherry, to Jean-Nicolas Céré, Île de France [received July 21, 1789], fol. 1r, MS 307, MNHN: "Les muscadiers ne sont pas trop bien portent Les autre plantes Se porte[nt] bien. " 55 For more on Céré, see J. P. F. Deleuze, "Notice sur M. de Céré," Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle 16 (1810): 329-37.
  52. André Thouin, "Instructions pour diriger les Jardiniers dans la Culture des Végétaux en Nature destinés au Nabab Typoo Sultan pendant leur Voyage sur Mer," fol. 20r, MS 307, MNHN.
  53. Ibid.
  54. Draft letter from André Thouin, Paris, to Jean-Nicolas Céré, Île de France, October 14, 1788, fol. 1r, MS 307, MNHN: "Je vous en aurai la plus sincere [sic] obligation, ainsi que de leur donner des Conseils sur les procedés [sic] d'agriculture les plus propres au Climat de l'Inde afin de leur eviter [sic] des tentatives et des Essais souvent longs et infectueux [sic]. Si vous aviez le tems de leur faire redi- ger [sic] par ecrit [sic] vos observations a ce sujet vous leur rendriez un grand Service et vous mettriez le comble a vos Bontés. "
  55. Pierre Mulot, Brest, to André Thouin, Paris, November 9, 1788, fol. 1v, MS 307, MNHN: "Nous avons eut [sic] beaucoup de pe . . . [peine?] pour trouver . . . [assez?] place sur les vaisaux pour nos abre[s]. "
  56. Laurent, Brest, to André Thouin, Paris, November 15, 1788, fols. 1r, 2v, MS 307, MNHN.
  57. Pierre Mulot, Île de France, to André Thouin, Paris, March 12, 1789, fol. 1v, MS 307, MNHN: "Nous n'avons pas ceme [i.e., semé] de grene [i.e., graines] . . . parce que le veceaux [i.e., vaisseaux] trop embarace [i.e., embarrassé?] le capitene [sic] et les officier [sic] . . . [sont] tout [?] deja tres malcontent d'avoir tant d'embara sur les veceaux. "
  58. Hilda Grieve, A Transatlantic Gardening Friendship, 1694-1777 (Essex: Historical Association, 1981), 13, 23. One of the most infamous contemporary examples of such ten- sions is the mutiny that occurred on the Bounty in 1789. The Bounty, which was sailing under Captain Bligh from Tahiti to the Caribbean, carried a substantial cargo of live breadfruit plants.
  59. Pierre Mulot, Île de France, to André Thouin, Paris, March 12, 1789, fol. 3v, MS 307, MNHN.
  60. Pierre Mulot [?], Île de France, to André Thouin, Paris, March 12, 1789, fol. 4r, MS 307, MNHN: "La raison pour quoi que M. Cere n'est pas venu a notre bord ces [sic] 76 Willemet did apparently correspond with other French botanists. These included Aubin-Louis Millin, who noted in his éloge for Willemet that the doctor had sent him a cat- alog itemizing plants Willemet had collected for him from the Cape of Good Hope. The plants themselves, unfortu- nately, did not reach France. Aubin-Louis Millin, "Notice sur Rémi Willemet," Actes de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris 1 (1792): 129.
  61. Spary, Utopia's Garden, 67-68.
  62. R. C. Barrault, Île de France, to André Thouin, April 7, 1789, fol. 1v, MS 307, MNHN; and André Thouin, Paris, to R. C. Barrault, October 27, 1789, f. 1v, MS 307, MNHN.
  63. André Thouin, Paris, to Pierre-Rémy-François Wille- met, November 27, 1789, MS 307, MNHN: "Depuis votre depart vous nous avons donné aucun signe de vie et Si les Jardiniers et votre ami M. Barrault ne nous avoient ecrit [sic] que vous portiez bien nous vous croirions mort, cela n'est pas bien de l'aisser [sic] ainsi vos amis dans l'inquie- tude [sic], réparez au plus tôt je vous prie. "