Betrothal gifts and dowry

Mysore City, Ambavilas Palace.

This place was originally the palace of Maharaja, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, but most of it has now been "requisitioned" by Tipu Sultan.

In a spacious, cool Hall on the west side of the palace, Tipu Sultan, unable to contain his excitement, grabbed Sheikh Khan's arm. "You mean, France is going to marry a princess to Mysore?"

As arranged by Salah, the second France consul in Mysore, he did not approach Tipu directly to discuss the matter, but instead had Sheikh Khan inform Tipu. This would allow Sheikh Khan to become the de facto facilitator of the Franco-Mysore marriage, greatly enhancing his political standing and facilitating a future alliance to overthrow the pro-British Jahan Zeb.

"Indeed, great Sultan," Sheikh Khan sat up straight, patting his chest, "And she is a princess who is a follower of Islam!"

Tipu Sultan was taken aback by this. He was quite familiar with Europe countries, and France was considered a pillar of Europe Catholicism. How could Royal House be a Islam?

Sheikh Khan noticed his confusion and quickly repeated Salah's words, "Your Majesty, the France consul said that this princess is from Tunisia, her name is Amira Slihi, she is 15 years old, and she is beautiful and intelligent..."

"Tunisia?" Tipu Sultan blinked, then remembered the recent news— Tunisia had been annexed by France. "How could a Tunisia be a princess?"

Sheikh Khan continued, using Salah's words to explain, "Your Majesty, although Tunisia has merged with France, it still belongs to a kingdom. Princess Amira's brother is the Tunisia ' Bey,' oh, now he's called the Duke of Tunisia."

Tipu Sultan nodded slightly. He knew that this was common in Europe. For example, in the Holy Roman Empire, their states had a common Holy Roman Emperor, but the states under them also had their own Grand Duke, whose children and sisters were all princesses.

However, he was very satisfied even with a princess from Tunisia, because she was a princess from France state, and no other kingdom on the entire peninsula had ever been able to form a marriage alliance with a major Europe power.

This will greatly enhance Mysore's prestige, making it a first-rate kingdom on the peninsula!

"Is the princess 15?" he pondered. "Prince Pratiba is exactly 17, so let them..."

Sheikh Khan, however, interrupted him with a smug smile, saying rudely, "Your Majesty, the France consul's statement is that Princess Amira is to marry His Highness Nawaz."

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

Although Mysore is now in charge of Tipu, there is actually a "Maharaja" above him, who is the supreme ruler of Mysore. Tipu's father, Hyder, was originally an officer in Mysore. After taking complete control of the army 30 years ago, he sidelined the King of the Wadiyar family and seized real power in Mysore.

The Vadia family became a food industry giant in India in the 21st century. They also manipulated legal clauses in their collaboration with the French Danone Group, suing Danone and ultimately extorting $2.4 billion from them...

At present, the Wadiyar family is still the nominal ruler of Mysore, so Tipu has always believed that France wants to form a marriage alliance with the Wadiyar family.

But to his surprise, the France chose him!

This means that the France government considers itself, or at least will be, the ruler of Mysore.

With France's support, he might be able to completely obliterate the Wadiyar family!

He looked excitedly at Sheikh Khan, about to agree, but then suddenly remembered that the France wanted him to deal with the United Kingdom, and his spirits immediately dampened.

Although he also disliked the United Kingdom, United Kingdom was indeed powerful and had the support of the Maratha and Hyderabad, so he really didn't want to provoke United Kingdom.

Sheikh Khan, noticing his hesitation, quickly offered Salah's "Cake": "His Excellency the France Consul also said that Princess Amira's dowry includes a cannon manufacturing plant, with at least 30 technicians and a full set of production equipment."

Tipu Sultan's breathing suddenly became rapid.

This isn't an artillery piece, it's an artillery factory!

He had previously studied cannon casting in Europe and even spent a lot of money to hire Europe Craftsman, and was able to make some cannons, but those cannons were far inferior to the original ones bought from Europe in terms of both quality and power.

There are two main reasons for this.

Firstly, Mysore was trained by the Ottoman, who themselves were only partially knowledgeable, and their artillery technology lagged behind Europe for many years. Therefore, when Mysore was taught, the results would be even less effective.

Secondly, cannon casting is a complex system; it's not something you can accomplish simply by getting a blueprint and having a few Craftsman. From the most basic processing tools, such as rulers and pliers, to advanced processing equipment, such as Boring Machine and drills, Mysore was far behind. Don't underestimate a pair of pliers; without a solid foundation in handicrafts, you simply cannot produce a qualified cannon.

Therefore, Mysore's most relied-upon cannons to this day are still the dozen or so smuggled from Europe, and it has also manufactured nearly a hundred of its own, totaling no more than 120 cannons.

While these cannons were powerful enough to rival any other weapon on the Indian Peninsula, they were still far from sufficient against the United Kingdom.

Now the France are providing the complete production equipment, along with dozens of skilled technicians. From now on, Tipu Sultan can continuously acquire cannons simply by investing money!

He had more than ten times the number of soldiers United Kingdom, and if he had enough cannons, he might not be unable to defeat the United Kingdom!

Of course, Joseph still had a backup plan. Although Mysore acquired the artillery factory, it still depended on France for both raw materials and spare parts.

Even the most basic Gunpowder was not something the India could easily master—without a fine Chemical industry, the power of Gunpowder would be at least 10-20% lower.

Moreover, arming Mysore wouldn't do France any harm, since it was already within the United Kingdom sphere of influence. Given India's political environment—numerous small states, sharp religious and ethnic conflicts, and the caste system—there was no need to worry about Mysore unifying the peninsula and creating a powerful empire.

Tipu Sultan immediately rose and said to Sheikh Khan, "Invite the France consul to the Ambavilas Palace tomorrow; I want to discuss the marriage with him."

Then, as if remembering something, he instructed, "You can tell the consul that I'm willing to offer Pound Sterling 500,000 as a dowry."

Of course, the betrothal gifts he mentioned are not exactly the same as those in East Asia, but they are generally the money and goods given for the purpose of getting married.

Joseph never expected that by instigating Mysore to fight the United Kingdom, he would unexpectedly gain a huge profit of more than 12 Livre.

This is enough to show how wealthy the Indian Peninsula was at that time.

And how much profit did United Kingdom, which controlled the trade between India and Europe, reap?