Editing Diplomatic immunity (section)

===Prior to modern period===

[[File:Krshna mediating between pandavas and duryodhana.jpg|thumb|[[Krishna]], an avatar of [[Vishnu]], [[Kurukshetra War#Krishna's peace mission|mediating for peace]] to avert the [[Kurukshetra War]] of [[Mahabharata]]]]

The concept of diplomatic immunity can be found in ancient Indian epics like ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]'', where messengers and diplomats were given immunity from capital punishment. In ''Ramayana'', when the demon king [[Ravana]] ordered the killing of [[Hanuman]], Ravana's younger brother [[Vibhishana]] pointed out that messengers or diplomats should not be killed, as per ancient practices.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aravamudan|first=Krishnan|title=Pure Gems of Ramayanam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJe9BAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=PartridgeIndia|isbn=978-1-4828-3720-9|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CJe9BAAAQBAJ&dq=%22ambassadors+are+not+sentenced+to+death%22&pg=PA773 773–774]}}</ref>

During the evolution of international justice, many wars were considered rebellions or unlawful by one or more combatant sides. In such cases, the servants of the "criminal" sovereign were often considered accomplices and their persons violated. In other circumstances, harbingers of inconsiderable demands were killed as a declaration of war. [[Herodotus]] records that when heralds of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian king]] [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] demanded "earth and water" (i.e., symbols of submission) of Greek cities, the [[Athens|Athenians]] threw them into a pit and the [[Sparta]]ns threw them down a well for the purpose of suggesting they would find both earth and water at the bottom, these often being mentioned by the messenger as a threat of siege. However, even for Herodotus, this maltreatment of envoys is a crime.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} He recounts a story of divine vengeance befalling Sparta for this deed.<ref>Herodotos. ''Histories''. Book VII, Ch. 133-134. (pp. 558–559 in the cited version.) Transl. Rawlinson, G. Wordsworth. Ware, Herefordshire. 1996. {{ISBN|1-85326-466-0}}.</ref>

A [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] envoy was urinated on as he was leaving the city of [[Taranto|Tarentum]]. The oath of the envoy, "This stain will be washed away with blood!", was fulfilled during the [[Pyrrhic War]].

[[Gregory of Tours]] recorded that [[Franks|Frankish]] envoys sent from King [[Childebert II]] to the [[Byzantine]] emperor [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] were killed in [[Carthage]] by the prefect of the city, after one of the Franks had murdered a merchant. After Emperor Maurice heard about this, he ordered for several Carthaginians to be arrested and sent to Childebert for judgment on account of what happened to his envoys.<ref>Gregory of Tours. ''A History of the Franks''. Pantianos Classics, 1916</ref>

The arrest and ill-treatment of the envoy of [[Raja Raja Chola]] by the king of [[Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras)]], which is now part of [[modern India]], led to the naval [[Kandalur War]] in AD 994.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Churchman|first1=David|title=Why we fight: the origins, nature, and management of human conflict|date=2013|publisher=University Press of America|location=Lanham|isbn=9780761861386|page=239|edition=2nd}}</ref>

The Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] sent and received envoys and strictly forbade harming them. This practice was continued by the [[Rashidun caliphs]] who exchanged diplomats with the Ethiopians and the Byzantines. This diplomatic exchange continued during the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]].<ref name="FadlAbou2009">{{cite book|last1=Fadl|first1=El |last2=Abou |first2=Khaled|last3=Hopley|first3=Russell |editor=John L. Esposito|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World: Creeds-Intercession|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLiEAQAACAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-530513-5|chapter=Diplomatic Immunity}}</ref>

Classical [[Sharia]] called for hospitality to be shown towards anyone who has been granted ''[[Aman (Islam)|amān]]'' (or right of safe passage). ''Amān'' was readily granted to any emissary bearing a letter or another sealed document. The duration of the ''amān'' was typically a year. Envoys with this right of passage were given immunity of person and property. They were exempt from [[taxation]], as long as they did not engage in trade.<ref name="FadlAbou2009"/>

As diplomats by definition enter the country under safe conduct, violating them is normally viewed as a great breach of honor. [[Genghis Khan]] and the [[Mongols]] were well known for insisting on the rights of diplomats, and would often take terrifying vengeance against any state that violated these rights; at times razing entire cities in retaliation for the execution of their ambassadors. The Mongols [[Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia|invaded and destroyed the Khwarezmid Empire]] after their ambassadors were mistreated.<ref name=Prawdin>[[Michael Prawdin|Prawdin, Michael]]. ''The Mongol Empire''.</ref>