From these, the case of the minister and thecommander-in-chief is explained. When the priest is guilty of thegravest treason, relief should be found either by confining him orby banishing him when the heir-apparent is so, confinement ordeath (nigraha), provided that there is another son of goodcharacter. The king should get rid of such an internal enemyeither by giving up his own fault or by pointing out the dangerarising from an external enemy. But the theories must have been founded on the experience of the time.Kautilya's Arthashastra The provocation of any one of the minister, the priest, thecommander-in-chief, and the heir-apparent is what is termedinternal trouble. However, it should be borne in mind that the Arthasastra is solely concerned with theories rather than the actual practice of the time. The Arthaxastra is considered a valuable source for ancient Indian history since it is solely concerned with all worldly affairs rather than the out-worldly affairs with which the vast majority of the ancient Indian literature are busy with. Whatever view we might take, it would be fair to designate it as Kautilya's Arthashastra.īengal found very scant mention in this work in only two aspects: its fine cotton fabric enjoyed a great demand all over India and the women of Bengal were given a high place among the womenfolk of India in terms of their good look and countenance. However, it should be mentioned that a critical examination of the contents of the work has convinced some scholars that the text was not the work of a single individual and that it could not have been composed in the 3rd century B C, but probably it received its present form three or four centuries later.

He published an edited version of the text with an English translation in 1915. Shamasastri in a remote corner of South India in the beginning of the 20th century. The book was somehow lost, and a copy of it was discovered by Pandit R. The author of the Sanskrit work of c.3rd century BC was Kautilya, the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya, also known as extremely clever Chanakya or Visnugupta, who was a teacher of the king. The Arthasastra was a storehouse of information on a multitude of subjects and it clearly reflects the intellectual and scientific development achieved by the ancient Indians. One cannot but feel amazed at the breadth of the knowledge of the author.

Subjects like man's relationship with animals and plants, minerals and metals, geology, agriculture and animal husbandry have also been dealt with in it. Arthashastra an ancient Indian treatise known for its contents on politics and state craft, administration, financial system, and many other aspects of social and religious life.

Arthashastra in english