ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the term 'merchant-diplomat' to highlight the distinctive role of commercial agents in structuring exchanges between early modern polities, underscoring the significance of non-ambassadorial actors brought to light by the New Diplomatic History. It focuses on the merchant-diplomats representing the Dutch East India Company opens up a significantly different perspective on cross-cultural diplomacy in early modern Asia than the picture obtained from existing studies about the occasional royal ambassadors sent from other parts of Europe. Seen through a comparative lens, the various embassies to Aurangzeb's court provide an exceptional testing ground for hypotheses regarding early modern cross-cultural diplomacy. The chapter contributes to the recent shift away from an exclusive focus on Christian Europe in investigating the development of early modern diplomacy, proposing to push it one step further by incorporating Asian encounters into this widening perspective.
