IHL before the Establishment of the ICRC: Plurality, Diversity and Continuity

The laws of armed conflict (international humanitarian law/IHL) constitute an important part of international law. The development of international treaties relating to this field is said to have started from 1860s onwards when Henry Dunant formed the Committee of Five which was later on renamed as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Much of the historical accounts on the laws of armed conflict concentrate on the Eurocentric development of the law from this period, and the ancient codes on war formulated across the globe are largely ignored or given a cursory treatment. Continuance of problematic aspects of the old norms in the present times has also received less attention. Therefore, the author first seeks to discuss the primitive fighting practices in feuds. Subsequently, an attempt is made to trace the elements of compassion during war in the ancient times and explore the origin and growth of the laws of armed conflict in different parts of the world in the past. Though, such attempts have been made earlier also, however, the present account covers a wider variety of early codes and contribution of philosophers. Additionally, it tries to underscore how the problematic foundations of early codes continue in the modern law also. The article, thus, aims at contributing to the existing literature on the non-European origins of the laws of armed conflict and highlights the continuity of the past.