Waging war through whispers and gossip

In September 1925, C.W.E. Cotton, British representative at the court of Travancore, wrote to an acquaintance: "I am greatly excited over the prospect of getting married." The "excitement" was probably feigned, for the 51-year-old's sudden appetite for matrimony had more to do with reasons of the head than the heart.

- Manu S. Pillai

After all, damaging gossip trailed him, especially with regard to his taste for (married) local women. There was a naughty Malayalam line going around—"methayil cotton undo?, is (Mr) Cotton in (or on) your mattress?" His bosses were scandalized, because no imperial agent could be permitted such a reputation. So, Cotton was told to settle down.

Another factor, besides, was that Travancore was ruled by an orthodox woman who baulked at doing business with a bachelor of Cotton's type. Even after he was wed, she ensured that their meetings were held in the presence of her husband. All said and done, a man might yet survive scandal; for a female, the whiff of sexual impropriety could spell ruin.

Gossip and rumour-mongering have long been among mankind's favourite pastimes. Even the best of us delight in the former, and have been victim to the latter. Gossip spares not even gods: in the Ramayana, it is bazaar chatter that triggers Sita's exile. In the puranas, divine ends are often achieved by the sly, tale-carrying proclivities of Narada. But hearsay and whispers could also be an instrument of statecraft, a way to deliberately cut people down to size, and a weapon weaker folk might deploy against the rich and powerful.

The much-celebrated Arthasastra, for instance, endorses sowing rumour and falsehoods about political foes. Even today, we see the principle in play: social media platforms were abuzz recently about the health of an orange-complexioned world leader, the not-so-innocent hint being that he is unfit to rule. In prior eras, this kind of talk could be hazardous. When the Mughal emperor Shahjahan fell ill and failed to appear in public, gossip fanned out that he was dead. This set off a bloody war of succession, and by the time he showed himself, it was simply too late.