International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

The Politics of Sovereignty and Commodity Control in Eighteenth-Century Travancore: Marthanda Varma and Pepper Diplomacy

The politics and economy of Kerala saw significant transformations in the 1700s. This was notably true when Marthanda Varma (r. 1729–1758) started Travancore. Historians have primarily concentrated on his military triumphs, particularly the Battle of Colachel. This paper contends that his enduring success was predicated on a strategic methodology in pepper diplomacy. Marthanda Varma turned pepper from a simple crop into a tool for diplomacy, making money, and running the country by controlling its production, changing trade patterns, and fighting European monopolies. This thesis situates Travancore's pepper diplomacy within the framework of early modern global trade, examines its impact on Dutch dominance along the Malabar Coast, and asserts that economic statecraft, rather than military success, formed the foundation of Travancore's political unity. The work enhances the historiography of South India and the Indian Ocean by demonstrating the resilience of local economies against European corporate imperialism. "Pepper diplomacy" is when a government uses its power over growing, pricing, distributing, and trading pepper to gain more political and diplomatic power. By controlling the pepper trade in his kingdom, rewriting contracts with Europeans, and only working with certain foreign companies, Marthanda Varma changed the way business and the monarchy worked in Kerala. The Malabar Coast, Travancore, Marthanda Varma, the Dutch East India Company, economic diplomacy, building the state, and the pepper trade are all things that come to mind.