The Written Word Versus the Spoken Word

Part of the disconnect between European and Indian cultures was European reliance on the written word and the Indian reliance on the spoken word. Europeans had long relied on written contracts in their legal system and elsewhere to formalize agreements, and this came into play with the great many land deals made during the 17th and 18th centuries. Europeans came from a system and culture that ignored or greatly downplayed any verbal negotiations made prior to a final written contract.

By contrast, Indian diplomacy was predicated upon the spoken word. As demonstrated several times in the book, many Indians were eloquent orators. In Indian culture, a man's spoken word was his bond and his promise. Indian negotiators would go so far as to start each meeting by speaking, verbatim, what was spoken in the previous meeting.

This important cultural difference resulted in...