Vassal state
Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to the era of the Egyptian, Hittite, and Mitanni conflict, as well as in ancient China.
These were located on the fringes of the territory claimed by Egypt and were a potential threat from acting with the Hittites in Anatolia, or the Mitanni in Iraq and Syria.
[2] In 1258 BC, Ramesses and the Hittite King Ḫattušili III signed a peace treaty that created a border from north of Byblos to Damascus between the two empires.
[4] Byblos held religious importance to Egypt, as the local goddess appeared in the form of Hathor, and was associated with Isis.
[4] Correspondence with the Kingdom of Byblos is well documented, as the longest interaction between Egypt and a vassal state and spanned a period of 12 years.
Despite his loyalty to the Pharaoh, Rib-Hadda never received any meaningful reply from Egypt during times of need and was eventually exiled from his own kingdom by his brother.
The addition of vassal states reached its peak under the reigns of Šuppiluliuma I and Muršili II in the 14th century BC.
[6] From the sources, it is believed that Ugarit held economic and commercial importance to the Hittite Empire, as many letters and documents relate to trade.
Rather, Hitttite sources place importance on the political and military role this kingdom played in the empire, as it was located on the border of Hatti territory and Egypt.
Amurru was loyal to the Hittite Empire from the end of the Amarna Period until the reign of Muwatalli II, when they switched allegiances back to Egypt.
[7] A shift from Semitic names used by descendants of Aziru suggest a lasting impact of Hittite influence in the region.
[8] When the city was conquered by Suppiluliuma I, he installed his son on the throne[8] Due to this, the later kings of Carchemish acted as representatives for the Hittite Empire in Syria.
While vassal states were necessary to the politics of the empire and connected by administrative and economic means, they are not considered to be ‘properly Assyrian’.
[9] Neo-Assyrian imperial ideology placed importance on unified diversity, and as such vassal states maintained a degree of cultural independence.
[9] While territorial expansion slowed in the 7th century BC, the amount of vassal states increased in number, suggesting a change in foreign policy.
[11] The kingdoms west of the Euphrates river were considered vassal states until the 7th century BC, when they were incorporated into the proper provincial system of the empire, though they still had various degrees of political control depending on location.
Herodotus writes that negotiations took place between King Amyntas I of Macedonia and the Persians after the former's subjugation by the Achaemenids by 513 BC.
[14] In Xerxes’ invasion of Greece, Herodotus mentions the Arabians among the different sections of the Persian Army as being led by Arsamenes – the son of Darius I.
The Royal Road which ran through most of the empire allowed for the movement and sharing of goods, culture, and ideas between the Achaemenid satraps and vassal states.
[18] However, China abandoned its conventional policy of noninterference toward Korea and adopted a radical interventionist one in the late 19th century.
[22] According to Rockhill: "The tribute sent to Peking by all the 'vassal states,' and also by the Tibetans, and the Aboriginal tribes of Western China, is solely a quid pro quo for the privilege of trading with the Chinese under extraordinarily favorable conditions.
[23] According to Rockhill: "As to the custom of submitting to the Emperor the choice made by the king of an heir to the throne, or of a consort, or informing him of the death of his mother, of his wife, etc., we can look at them as only strictly ceremonial relations, bearing with them no idea of subordination.
During the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire controlled many vassal and tributary states such as the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and the Crimean Khanate.
