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Chapter 337: Betrothal Gifts and Dowry

Mysore City, Amba Vilas Palace.

This was originally the royal palace of the Maharaja, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, but Tipu Sultan had now "appropriated" most of it.

In a spacious, cool hall on the west side of the palace, Tipu Sultan, unable to conceal his excitement, gripped Sheikh Khan's arm. "Are you saying France intends to marry a princess to Mysore?"

As per the arrangements made by Salah, the Second French Consul in Mysore, he hadn't approached Tipu directly about the matter. Instead, he had Sheikh Khan deliver the news. This would effectively establish Sheikh Khan as the facilitator of the Franco-Mysorean alliance through marriage, significantly elevating his political standing and paving the way for him to later collaborate in ousting the pro-British Jahan Zeb.

"Indeed, Your Great Sultan," Sheikh Khan affirmed, straightening his posture and placing a hand over his chest. "And she is a princess who practices Islam!"

Tipu Sultan paused, startled, at this revelation. He was quite familiar with the European nations; France was considered a pillar of Catholicism in Europe. How could a princess who practiced Islam suddenly emerge from their royal family?

Sheikh Khan, sensing his confusion, quickly relayed Salah's original words. "Your Majesty, the French consul stated that this princess hails from Tunisia. Her name is Amira Sliti, she is fifteen years old, and she is both beautiful and intelligent..."

"Tunisia?" Tipu Sultan blinked. Only then did he recall the recent news: Tunisia had been incorporated into France. "How can a Tunisian be a princess?"

Sheikh Khan continued to explain using Salah's reasoning. "Your Majesty, although Tunisia has merged with France, it remains a kingdom. Princess Amira's brother is the Bey of Tunisia—oh, he is now referred to as the Duke of Tunisia."

Tipu Sultan nodded slightly. He knew that such situations were common in Europe. For instance, in the Holy Roman Empire, while its constituent states shared a common Emperor, the subordinate states each had their own archdukes, and their children and sisters were also considered princesses.

Even a princess from Tunisia satisfied him greatly, for she was a princess from a French tributary state. Across the entire peninsula, no other kingdom had managed to forge a marital alliance with a major European power.

This would immensely boost Mysore's prestige, elevating it to a first-rate kingdom on the peninsula!

'The princess is fifteen?' he mused. 'Prince Pratibha is seventeen; they would be a good match...'

Sheikh Khan, however, wore a triumphant smile and unceremoniously interrupted him. "Your Majesty, the French consul's intention is for Princess Amira to marry Prince Nawaz."

Tipu Sultan's eyes widened instantly, for Nawaz was his own son!

While Tipu currently held sway in Mysore, there was still a "Maharaja" above him, the supreme ruler of Mysore. Tipu's father, Haider, had been a Mysorean officer who, after fully controlling the army thirty years ago, effectively sidelined the Wodeyar family's king and seized true power in Mysore.

This Wodeyar family, in the 21st century, would become an Indian food industry giant, manipulating legal clauses in their cooperation with the French Danone Group, suing Danone, and ultimately extracting 2.4 billion US dollars from them...

For now, however, the Wodeyar family remained the nominal rulers of Mysore, which was why Tipu had assumed France intended to form a marital alliance with them.

He had never imagined the French would choose him!

This implied that the French government considered him, Tipu, to be the true ruler of Mysore, or at least believed he would be in the future.

With French backing, he could potentially cast the Wodeyar family completely into obsolescence!

He excitedly turned to Sheikh Khan, about to express his agreement, but then remembered that the French expected him to confront the British, and his spirits immediately sagged.

While he, too, disliked the British, their power was undeniable, and with the support of the Maratha and Hyderabad, he genuinely did not wish to provoke them.

Sheikh Khan, discerning his hesitation, promptly offered the "sweetener" Salah had provided. "His Excellency, the French Consul, also stated that Princess Amira's dowry will be a cannon manufacturing factory, complete with at least thirty skilled technicians and a full set of production equipment."

Tipu Sultan's breathing grew shallow and quick.

This wasn't just cannons—it was a cannon factory!

He had previously invested in learning cannon casting from Europe, even spending exorbitant sums to invite European artisans. While he could produce some cannons, their quality and power were far inferior to the original pieces imported from Europe.

There were two main reasons for this.

Firstly, Mysore had learned its cannon techniques from the Ottomans, who themselves were only half-competent, their artillery technology consistently lagging behind Europe. Passing that on to Mysore only further diminished its quality.

Secondly, cannon casting was a systemic endeavor. It wasn't enough to simply obtain a blueprint and a few artisans to produce high-quality cannons. Mysore lacked severely in everything from basic processing tools—like rulers and pliers—to advanced manufacturing equipment, such as boring machines and drills. Don't underestimate a simple pair of pliers; without a robust foundation in handicraft, one simply couldn't produce adequate ones.

Consequently, Mysore's most reliable cannons to date were the dozen or so smuggled from Europe. They had also manufactured nearly a hundred themselves, totaling no more than 120 cannons.

While these cannons were sufficient to dominate most forces on the Indian Peninsula, they were utterly insufficient when facing the British.

But now, the French were directly providing a complete set of production equipment, along with dozens of skilled technicians. From then on, Tipu Sultan only needed to invest money to continuously acquire cannons!

He commanded ten times more soldiers than the British. If he had an ample supply of cannons, he might very well defeat them!

Of course, Joseph had still kept an ace up his sleeve. While Mysore would receive the cannon factory, it would remain dependent on France for both raw materials and spare parts for the equipment.

Even basic gunpowder wasn't something Indians could easily produce. Without a sophisticated chemical industry, the gunpowder's potency would be reduced by at least ten to twenty percent.

Furthermore, arming Mysore posed no disadvantage to France, as this region was entirely within the British sphere of influence. Given India's political landscape—numerous small states, acute religious and ethnic conflicts, coupled with the caste system—there was no concern that Mysore would unify the peninsula and establish a powerful empire.

Tipu Sultan immediately cast aside his hesitation, rose, and addressed Sheikh Khan. "Invite the French consul to Amba Vilas Palace tomorrow. I wish to discuss the marriage arrangements with him."

He then remembered something else and instructed, "You may discreetly inform the consul that I am prepared to offer 500,000 Pound Sterling as a betrothal gift."

While his concept of a betrothal gift differed somewhat from those in East Asia, it generally represented the assets paid for taking a wife.

Joseph had never anticipated that his efforts to incite Mysore against the British would yield him a colossal profit of over 12 million livres out of thin air.

This, however, clearly illustrated the immense wealth of the Indian Peninsula at the time.

And how much profit Britain, controlling the India-Europe trade, extracted from it.