Diplomacy in the Islamic world began with the establishment of the first Islamic state in 622; and it was not founded through military means but by a social contract, the Medina Charter. The function of diplomats was to communicate with other states, to conclude an agreement or alliance which was decided previously, to arrange the exchange of prisoners and the truce, and to announce war. Most certainly, another function of envoys was to gather information about the weaknesses and/or strengths of the host country. The function of diplomacy in these early years was at the most basic level since the strength of the state in the absence of at least an equal power did not raise the need to a more complex function for diplomacy. Diplomatic contact between Islamic or Arab, Byzantine and also Latin rulers were frequent in the Middle Ages. The motives for diplomatic practice were similar to other ages and civilizations: political concern regarding peace and war, economic or commercial motives and definitely information gathering. Emissaries played the most important role in this vein; and it can be said that diplomatic envoys were great travelers in the Middle Ages. As Drocourt stated, they usually spent more time travelling than negotiating because of the distance between the Arab region and Constantinople or the whole Western part of Christendom. The correct answer is Choice C.