11th ILS Intra College ‘The Negotiation Challenge’ 2022

Finals Problem

‘What if?’

1. Circa 1850. Edonia is a land of multicultural societies, with vast amounts of natural
resources and a ruler beloved by all the subjects. King Darius has been at the helm of
this empire for the last 30 years. Most of the territory that falls under his reign has been
inherited by Darius from his ancestors, who had annexed a large number of smaller
kingdoms. For the majority of his reign, Darius played the role of a guardian to his
empire, placed his focus on the well-being of his people and refrained from forced
annexation of any foreign territory. He was in fact a true proponent of “Atithi Devo
Bhava '' and tried to be a generous host to the foreign travellers visiting Edonia.

2. After spending most of his years of reign in glory and success, there came a time when
Darius was not able to personally look over the vast expanse of his empire. So to ensure
that there is no disintegration of the empire, he decided to divide it into several
provinces. These provinces were mainly the territories that were captured by Darius’
predecessors and were divided based solely on natural borders. For administrative
convenience, he developed a system of hierarchy wherein he appointed Chiefs as the
head of these provinces (Basenji, Alvonia, Krastava, Orisina etc), each of whom were
granted powers to manage the financial system, and overlook the law-and-order
situation in their respective provinces.

3. Rhovan, on the other hand, is the mightiest force among the Sea Trading Countries and
has dominated over the world trade by making effective use of sea routes, advanced
vessels and ports. Their tradesmen are well acquainted with the ways of the sea and
distribute goods from one corner of the world to the other in a seamless manner which
 has helped Rhovan amass tonnes of wealth. Thus, Rhovan has built for itself a position
of great reverence built on its strong trade and industrial sectors. Their dominance and
knowledge of sea routes paved the way to discovery of new lands, most of which were
under-developed as compared to that of Rhovan.

4. The Rhovans who were adept in modern administrative methods had developed a deep
seated desire to secure more dominance over these new lands and slowly but surely
these traders started to infiltrate the new territories. In a short span of time, the traders
turned to administrators and were successful in converting these territories into their
colonies. The Rhovans then maximised their benefits by exploiting the wealth and
resources of these territories, and strengthening their own economical stance leading to
development of Rhovans at a much faster pace than its other counterparts.

5. With this same mindset of development and economic gains, Rhovan has been eyeing
the flourishing economy and rich resources of Edonia since a while. After a long period
of planning and strategizing, they finally seized the opportunity when Rhovan Trade
Co., a state sponsored business company from Rhovan, landed on the shores of Basenji,
a developing province of Edonia and an important port.

6. This coast was used as a base for several trading activities and for the purpose of storing
products obtained from the local traders before they were exported to other Rhovan
markets. Initially, the Rhovans used to trade only with the intermediaries that were
appointed by various Chiefs. However, the Rhovans being of ambitious nature, did not
stop just there. They further expanded their arms and very tactfully penetrated deeper
into the administrative and economic system. Soon they started to establish direct links
with the common traders and artisans, eventually sidelining the intermediaries. The
intermediaries lost their jobs and were left with almost no means of sustenance. They
did so by paying the Chiefs a lump sum amount in lieu of direct trading rights with the
locals. They further attempted to create disparity amongst the Chiefs by discriminating
between them based on their own whims and fancies.

7. In addition, the Rhovans also attempted to build a market of their own by selling
Rhovan industrial goods in Edonia, thereby deepening interaction with the local
population of various provinces and understanding the Edonian economy. The
 relatively expensive, handmade Edonian goods were unable to keep up with the
machine- made Rhovan goods. The public demand for goods shifted towards these
Rhovan products, proving to be a major setback to the Edonian industrialists. Although
the locals did not have a sufficient market to sell their goods, they were still made to
pay taxes to the royal treasury. This depleted them of their resources without any
incoming revenue, leaving them frustrated by the unjust system that was prevailing.

8. The years kept passing but the weak residents of Edonia failed miserably to raise their
voice against the Rhovans. Thus, after almost a decade, the Rhovans succeeded in
gaining exponential administrative and revenue powers. The Rhovans also interfered in
the everyday social life of the Edonians, ridiculing their age-old traditions, terming
them "outdated" and "blind faith", much to the chagrin of the Edonians. Along with the
malpractices established in the past years, the most financially viable place in whole
Edonia, the port of Basenji was also made out of bounds for the locals. Not only were
the locals were restricted from carrying out inter-provincial trade but were also
prevented from importing and exporting goods. The Rhovans had stopped paying fees
to the royal exchequer for the use of all the ports. The losses suffered by the Edonians
began increasing manifold and eventually sowed the seeds of revolt in their minds and
hearts.

9. This led to the rise of a group of local leaders from various provinces of Edonia. They
tried to raise their voice against such unjust Rhovans which was curbed with great
strength and a lot of these leaders were reprimanded and made political prisoners.
However, the Rhovans had underestimated the aggressive and passionate temperament
of these Edonians which culminated in some of the imprisoned local leaders in Basenji
escaping and capturing the Basenji port and defying the restrictions created by the
Rhovans.

10. Such disregard of the Rhovan authority enraged the officials who lathi-charged into the
port. Amongst the heated confrontation, one of the Edonians from the public attempted
to assassinate one Lord Gregory Davies who was the local head incharge of governing
the Basenji province.
11. The Rhovans considered this action to be a direct attack on their position of power and
authority. They decided to detain every suspect and his family until the real culprit was
found. The Rhovan authorities widely misused this power and every second Edonian
family was harassed and kept in such camps.

12. This was the last straw for Edonians. They organised themselves into groups on local
as well as national levels with the determined cause of overthrowing the Rhovans at
any cost. The old and young, as well as women and children, all came together with
determination in their minds and fire in their souls and only one common goal- GO
BACK RHOVANS.

13. Back in Rhovan, Queen Maeve was ruling the nation and had overseen the majority of
its development. However, there was a division among her subjects with respect to her
policy of establishing colonies in industrially underdeveloped countries under the garb
of extending the trade policies. In addition to this, it was her own daughter, Princess
Sansa who was openly dissenting Queen’s policy. The Queen was notified by some of
her trusted sources that post the bursts of revolt in Edonia, Sansa had gained enough
support of people and was planning a coup to usurp the throne.

14. Worried about the Edonian resistance turning into a full-fledged independence
movement, the Queen has invited prominent Edonian leaders to for negotiation. The
Edonian leaders have acknowledged the same and wish to avoid any further loss of
life and property. Hence a negotiation session has been arranged on 25 th September at
the Queen’s castle in Rhovan capital of Telford. The Queen shall attend alongwith her
Minister of External Affairs while Edonia will be represented by Ms. Malvina Sakir
and Mr. Surya Sen.
[This imaginary problem has been drafted for the purpose of the 11th ILS Intra-College TheNegotiation
Challenge, 2022, by Savani Budhkar, Khushi Patel (III BALLB), Shakshi Swarnkar (II LLB), Tejita
Wadode, Gautam Garg, Sanaya Khadiwala, Krishna Purwar (IV BALLB), Yogesh Mourya (III LLB),
Anoushka Gahilot, Tejas Bhonge, Hitanshu Patil, Shantanu Sohoni (V BALLB).]