ARTHASHASTRA (IPT)

Kautilya made politics a scientific study in ancient India, and attempted to test the political ideas
on scientific lines with empirical orientation. Kautilyas Arthashastra is considered the most
scientific work on the ancient Indian polity and an encyclopaedia of practical administration.
Undoubtedly, in the field of Literature, Art and Philosophy there was much sophistication but
since the Political Centre in India was weak, there was very little Political Organization.
Alexander's invasion might have provided some rethinking.

He was the first to make political economy an independent discipline; while playing lip service
to ideal of right, he propounded a theory of Politics which dealt with the immediate practical
concerns of polity. He was known for his exceptional, frank and candid ideas.

Dharmashastra pertains to more social, moral and religious aspects while Arthashastra is more
political and economic in nature. It is similar to Nitishastra as both are policy oriented and give
due importance to discipline, punishment and sanction.

Arthasastra entails the Science (Sastra) of wealth/ earth/ polity (Artha).

In simple ways, Arthasastra' can be explained as 'Science and art of Politics and Diplomacy'.
This treatise is divided into fifteen books dealing with virtually every topic concerned with the
running of a State, Taxation, Law, Diplomacy, Military Strategy, Economics, Bureaucracy etc.

Kautilya’s book has 15 parts, 180 divisions, 150 chapters and approx. 6000 verses or shlokas.

1. BOOK 1- Details about kings and ministers

2. BOOK 2- Lays down duty of various executive officers of the state and state’s role in
activities like agriculture, mining etc.
3. BOOK 3- Themes of law and administration
4. BOOK 4- Suppression of crimes
5. BOOK 5- Miscellaneous topics like salary of officials.
6. BOOK 6- Constituent elements of a state and foreign policy.
7. BOOK 7- Additional details on foreign policy
 8. BOOK 8- Various calamities that may hamper state functioning are mentioned.
9. BOOK 9- War prep details.
10. BOOK 10- Art of fighting and its different modes.
11. BOOK 11- Describes how a conqueror should tackle oligarchies governed by a group of
chiefs instead of single king.
12. BOOK 12- Highlights how a weak king can overcome a strong king.
13. BOOK 13- Describes how to conquer an enemy’s fort.
14. BOOK 14- Occult and secret practices.
15. BOOK 15- Logical techniques and methodology used in arthashastra

THEORY OF STATE
 It was for the first time, in ancient India, that the Arthasastra of Kautilya, provided a
definition of the State that, "no territory deserves the name of the Kingdom (State) unless
it is full of people and controlled by an agglomeration of a power with absolute authority
over the territory.”
 One of the basic presuppositions of Kautilya's thought is his acute awareness of the
dangers of anarchy as well as the absolute necessity to transcend in by establishing order
in society. Kautilya observed that it is on the Dandaniti (Science of Government) that the
course of the Kingdom depends.
 Kautilya emphasizes the need for a strong ruler capable of creating order.
 Living at the time when the discipline and might of Alexander's army was in contrast to
the decadent character of the state authority under the Nanda dynasty, he had sensed the
impact of national humiliation when India had narrowly escaped being overrun.
 He was convinced that society can never hope to be in peace without a Strong state.
 He had come to regard excessive concern for the individual as the great threat to the place
of the Kingdom.
 He is conscious that a weak king encourages impoverishment, greed, disaffection in his
subjects. When people are impoverished they become greedy and overturn the State.
 He perhaps felt that the main purpose of the king is to see that such an eventuality when
people rise in revolt against the king should never arise because anarchy is worse than the
highest tyranny.
  Kautilya even goes to the extent of saying that a diseased king is better than a new king.
This position was almost a reversal of the position taken by Manu and Vyasa. Kautilya
gives two reasons in support of this contention-
1. First, while the diseased king is well versed in tradition and is bound by it,
whereas, the new king, since there are not traditions to follow, acts without
restraints.
2. Secondly, Kautilya generally preferred kings of high birth because, according to
him, people obey high birth more readily and tend to weave in their loyalty to a
king who is low born.
 As an exponent of real politics he accepts the substantial importance of keeping people
happy. He adds, " when people are impoverished, they become greedy, when they are
greedy, they become disaffected, when disaffected, they voluntarily go to the side of the
enemy and destroy their own master."
 Although Kautilya was in favour of a strong king, it may be doubted whether he was in
favour of an absolute monarchy. He further held that the king was never the proprietor of
the soil hence could not be called absolute.

DEFINITION OF STATE
In Kautilya's book the idea of a welfare state is repeated with great force. The state does not
consist of the territory, but is a much more complex organisation in which the territory, the
people and their inter-relationships are indissolubly welded to form the entity which possesses an
individuality, a character, which marks it off from all other states. According to Kautilya, the
king must ensure that people of the four castes and four orders of life keep to their respective
path, respective duties and occupations.

He had argued that Matsya Nyaya, which is the law of nature, needs to be eradicated. Matsya
Nyaya means a bigger fish always swallows the smaller fish. It can be seen as a state of anarchy
where the powerful dominate the weak.

Kautilya broke the tradition and advocated that the state could make laws of its own. If there is a
conflict between ‘Dharamnayay’ of state and ‘dharmashastra’, the earlier shall prevail.

Kautilya classifies the functions of the state basically into four:

 1. PROTECTION- The first function of the state is guarding the country against internal as
well as external threats. Internally people and their property have to be protected from
thieves and dacoits etc and also externally from outside the state there may be threats
from invasions that have to be dealt with.
2. MAINTAINING LAW- The king and the state, it is expected by the people, will maintain
the customs and laws of the land. The king according to Kautilya should settle legal
disputes in conformity with the sacred principles and laws in consultation with learned
brahmins.
3. PRESERVING SOCIAL ORDER- Kautilya saw it the duty of the king to protect the
dharma of the land by which he meant the social order. It is the duty of the king to
deliver justice and help keep people of different varnas preserve their professions or in
other words help maintain varnadharmashrarma.
4. PROMOTING THE WELFARE OF PEOPLE- The king according to Kautilya should
function on the goal that it is in the happiness of his subjects that his happiness lies. The
state should control the whole of social life. It should promote religion and spirituality
and in so doing regulate the age and conditions under which one might renounce the
world.

ELEMENTS OF STATE- DOCTRINE OF SEVEN PRAKRITIS

Kautilya's Arthasastra has seven Prakritis or the constituent elements of State, where as in
western conception of state only four elements find mentioning.

In kautilya's Arthasastra, there is no explicit theory of social contract as laid down by the
contractualist.

Whatever the nature of the political entity referred to as the state, It must possess three basic
elements the degree of its internal unity, the size of its capital city, the variety of products
without a specific land area, inhabited and exploited by a certain number of people, there can
neither be the existence of a state nor it can function without being organised.

The relationship of the state with other territories is based upon the sovereignty which it
exercises directly or more normally through its leader over the territory.
The seven elements are-

1. King or swami
2. Amatya or minister
3. Janapada or territory
4. Durga or fort
5. Kosa or treasury
6. Danda or army
7. Mitra or friend

KING OR SWAMI
 The king, being the most important element in hierarchy must possess the following
qualities-
1. Must belong to a high family
2. Must possess valor
3. Must be virtuous, truthful and highly enthusiastic and should not be addicted to
procrastination.
4. Must possess a taste of discipline, sharp intellect and trained in all forms of arts.
5. Must possess dignity and should be capable of taking remedial measures against
danger and also possess foresight and ready to avail himself of opportunities.
6. Has to be dynamic in order to ensure that his subjects are likewise dynamic.
 It is the duty of the kings to maintain the safety and security of their subjects and their
property. This is called rakshana or palana.
 Kautilya did not believe in divine origin of kinsgship. He believed it to be a human
institution.
 King must display Atma vrata (self-control) and to do this, the king had to abandon six
enemies – kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), mana (vanity), mada (haughtiness),
and harsha (overjoy).
 State in kautilya’s conception is a monarchy but the monarch is not a despot who
exercises unrestricted and arbitrary powers.
 The king is also asked to ensure the ‘Yogakshema’ of the public. ‘Yogakshema’ is a
broad term implying the idea of welfare, wellbeing, prosperity and happiness. There is
 nothing more important for a king than enterprise, wakefulness and concern for the
welfare of his subjects. These are the three virtues he admired most.
 He enjoins that the king must provide for the orphans, the aged, the helpless and the
afflicted. Helpless women must be provided subsistence by the state when they are
pregnant.
 The king is also required to construct dams, rivers and roads, to maintain forests and
provide help and superintendence to places of pilgrimage. The king must protect
agriculturists from molestation and other kinds of oppression, forced labour and
oppressive tasks.
 He was convinced that a vicious and unrighteous king who ignores the welfare of his
subjects would fall a victim of popular fury or become vulnerable to enemies.
 Kautilya goes on to describe an exhausting schedule in which the king has roughly four
and half hours to sleep and the rest of the time is almost entirely involved in running the
kingdom.
 There is a general tendency among administrators and ministers to alter the state of things
in their favour by practice of bribery and corruption, which if goes rampant can wreck a
state. To meet this situation, he suggests two things.
1. First, the king must be aware of the motives and activities of his council of
Ministers. He must not consult more than two ministers at a time. Ministers must
be selected on the basis of their talent, loyalty and character.
2. Secondly , from time to time the king must test their integrity and loyalty by
offering them temptations through his spies. They must be kept under constant
watch so that they are not able to wield undue influence inimical to the king.
 In cases of corruption, the king must impose the severest penalties and in certain cases he
is even enjoined to get rid of such ministers. On the other hand, the king must reward all
these who show integrity and deserving.
 He also discusses the special procedure to be applied in such cases: he suggests that a
panel of three Magistrates with ministers should be entrusted with this task. Kautilya was
not only concerned with corruption of officials but also of everyone in public life. For
instance, there should be a superintendent of merchandise to exercise control on trade
practices so that traders are not able to oppress the people.
  The king is enjoined to punish thirteen types of criminals after ascertaining their
activities with the keep of the spies. All these criminals are to be tried by special tribunals
according to a fixed procedure, a common practice it seems in the Mauryan Empire.
 Kautilyas vision was undoubtedly rooted in the classical ideas of virtue and he admired
courage, truth, fortitude and valour in all.
 Religion is useful to the king because it can be a powerful instrument in the service of the
state. So great is his concern for the stability of the state that the thought that even the
powers of the king are justified because they lead to the good of state.
 Kautilya gives elaborate instruction on the education and training of princes, which also
remind one of the education of the Guardian Class in Plato.

AMATYA OR MINISTER
 Amatya represents eyes of the state. Kautilya argued that the minister with the highest
rank should be born in a high family and should be a native of the state.
 Kautilya gives great importance to the Mantri Parishad i.e, the council of Ministers. No
ruler, however competent or powerful, can run the state alone. The Amatya refers both to
the mantra and the administrative officials.
 The most important function of the Mantris was to render advice to the king. Kautilya
insists that the king should appoint three to four councellors.
 These three to four mantrins constitute a consultative body. Kautilya prescribes the
highest possible qualifications for a mantris in terms of personal characteristics.
 They must be kept under constant watch so that they are not able to do any conspiracy or
disloyalty against the king and the kingdom.
 As regards the quality of the minister, who constitutes an important element of
sovereignty, Kautilya says that he must be a native and born of high family, influential
and well trained in all kinds of acts.
 He must try to remove whatever defects he finds in the king.
 In case of the king's death, the Minister shall install the heir apparent and then he should
set the army against the enemy and when attacked he will take such measures to ward off
the dangers.
  Apart from the king, there are three top positions in the council of ministers – the mantri
or the prime minister (closest political advisor of the king), the commander-in-chief
(involved in military planning and conduct of foreign policy) and the crown prince who
alternates between political and military assignments.

JANAPADA OR TERRITORY
 As regard the population, Kautilya says that it should be prosperous enough to be able to
pay taxes, should be loyal and should habitually follow the orders of the king.
 Another distinctive feature of the administrative system in the Arthasastra is marked as
leaning towards decentralization.The king is asked to look personally into the affairs of
the state. This makes one to assume that the state has to be small if personal attention is
to be given.
 It is stated elsewhere that the janapada to be divided into four divisions for revenue and
administrative purposes. All officers of the state should work under him. He may be
regarded as a sort of governor or administrator in the country side. Each division was
under an officer called sthanika.

DURGA OR FORT
 The Durga is as important as the janapada and is the symbol of the defensive and
offensive capacity of the state. It should be fortified.
 The construction of defensive fort is symbol of strength provided they are situated on the
strategically best situated regions.
 Kautilya also urges upon the king to build his fortified capital in the centre of the
kingdom. Forts are also constructed for storing agricultural produce and such forts with
grain store houses have to be used in times of natural calamities.
 Kautilya has detailed many types of forts in Arthashastra-
o Audak fort- surrounded by water bodies
o Parvat fort- built amidst mountains, defends external attacks.
o Dhanvan- Surrounded by desert
o Van fort- situated amidst dense forest
KOSA OR TREASURY
 Kosa or treasury is portrayed as the most vital element of the state as all its activities
necessitate finance.
 The treasury must be filled with gold, silver, precious stones jewels and gems and should
be capable of standing the strain of expenditure during time of calamities.
 The main tax of the kautilyan state is the tax In kind, 1/6 th of agri production output goes
to the state. kautilya also recommends special levies to be charged on alcohol, gambling,
road tolls, sale of jewelry, commercial sexual services etc.
 He also cautioned that excessive taxation Is economically and politically
counterproductive which would lower economic output and pauperise the people.

DANDA
 Danda or the army-Kautilya opines that the army consists of hereditary and hired soldiers
constituting the cavalry, infantry, and the chariot riders.
 He considers kshatriyas as the excellent material for the army as they are good warriors.
He does not deter the vaishas and sudras for joining army when the state is confronted
with emergency.
 The basic qualities of the army according to Kautilya are inheritance, loyalty and
strength. They should be trained in fighting of various kinds of battles and skilful in
handling various forms of weapons.
 Army, according to Kautilya, is divided in four services – infantry, cavalry, chariots and
war elephants. Kautilya has highlighted four basic forms of warfare-
1. MANTRA-YUDDHA- War by counsel or use of diplomacy by a weaker king who
finds it unwise to fight against a stronger adversary.
2. PRAKASH YUDDHA- Regular warfare where opposing armies fight according
to established rules and regulations.
3. KUTA YUDDHA- Irregular warfare including ambushes and raids in enemy
territory..
4. TUSNIM YUDDHA- Includes covert operations like sabotage and targeted
killings.
  Kautilya advises that if a war becomes inevitable, efforts should be made to avoid a
prolonged war and offensive is recommended in case there is overwhelming superiority
over an already weakened opponent.
 Kautilya favored Tusnim-yuddha or covert war where mental faculties like intelligence,
foresight, psychological skills and ingenuity matters.
 He elaborates on a thorough spy system in the kingdom. A spy could be a disguise of
householder, disciple, renouncer, prostitute etc.

MITRA OR FRIEND
 The last element or Prakrit is the mitra or the friend. He is the friend of the king, who is
always ready to help him at the times of war, and natural calamity.
 In order to emphasize the contrast, Arthashashtra defines an enemy as one who is not
born of a royal family and who is greedy, helpless and impotent and such an enemy is
easily uprooted.
 Allies were not exactly a part of the government, but as friendly powers always ready to
help the king, they were of considerable significance.

KAUTILYA AND WESTERN POLITICAL

THINKERS-
KAUTILYA AND PLATO
There are certain differences
between the two as well, Plato
favoured the aristocrats to do two
functions, to rule and do intellectual
activity. On the other hand, Kautilya
wanted Brahmins to do intellectual
activity while the rule would be done
by the kshtriya king. Plato was a
philosopher, while Kautilya was a
seasoned politician apart from being a philosopher.

KAUTILYA AND ARISTOTLE-

there were certain differences between
the two-

Aristotle gave a definite concept of

origin of state while kautilya was
more interested in statecraft and how
to make the state stronger. Aristotle
defended slavery on psychological
grounds, but that was not the case
with kautilya. Aristotle even condemned and denounced accumulation of wealth while kautilya
supported it as it was basis of kama and dharma.
KAUTILYA AND MACHHIAVELLI-

KAUTILYA MANDALA THEORY

Mandala projects the world in terms of geometry. Kautilya used the shape of mandala to develop
a political geometry that accounts for different political realities. In the seventh book of
Arthashastra, he described international relations as a mandala system.

Kautilya argued that acquiring power and its expansion is the main aim of any state. He argued
that power and success are inter-related. Power and success resulting from its use are of three
types-
 1. Intellectual strength or Mantra Shakti gives the power of good counsel
2. Physical power or prabhav Shakti, a prosperous and strong army
3. Morale and energetic action or utsah Shakti

Kautilya described foreign policy of small states constantly at war with each other and not of big
empires like the Mauryan. Kautilya listed six guiding principles of foreign policy as listed below.

1. A king would enhance resources and power of his kingdom to embark upon a campaign
of conquest
2. Enemies to be eliminated
3. Cultivation of allies
4. Adoption of prudent course of action
5. Peace to be preferred over war
6. King must behave as just in both, victory and defeat.

The central premise of the Mandala theory lies in locating the position of a kingdom as an
enemy or ally with respect to the intending conqueror and the kingdom’s spatial placement in the
mandala.

In the first circle, there are three primary kings forming a circle, the vijigishu, his friend and his
friend’s friend. Each one of them possesses the five elements of sovereignty, such as the amatya,
the janapada, the durga, the kosha and the danda.
The ordering principle of mandala scheme argues that a direct neighbour is an enemy (ari)
while an indirect neighbour is a friend (mitra). It is commonly expressed as – enemy of my
enemy is my friend. First and third circles would be hostile to the vijigishu state while second
and fourth would be friendly. It is not an iron law and exceptions would always be there. The
Madhyama or an indifferent king in any of the circles could turn out to be an ally or an enemy
and intervene in favour of the victor by supporting him or decide to be neutral (udasina) or an
enemy (ari). The victor’s policy should be to turn as many of the kings as possible into allies or
take neutral position.

Self-interest is a fundamental cause for foreign policy. It is vain to expect government to act
continuously on any other ground than national interest. States have no permanent enemies but
only permanent interests.

One of the distinctive principles of Kautilya Mandala theory is that whenever an enemy king is
in trouble, and his subjects are exploited, oppressed, impoverished and disunited he should be
immediately attacked after one proclamation of war.
THE SIX FOLD POLICY
In a system of mandala, Kautilya advocated six-fold policy to interact with the neighbours,
which included co-existence, neutrality, alliance, double policy, march and war.

To achieve this he advised the king to resort to five tactics: conciliation, gift and bribery,
dissention, deceit and pretence, open attack or war.

Kautilya presents us a six fold policy which he termed as six Gunas of foreign policy which are :

o PEACE- According to Kautilya, the words Sama (quiet), Sandhi (agreement of peace),
and Samadhi (reconcilement) are synonymous. That which is conducive to mutual faith
among kings is termed as Sama, Sandhi and Samadhi.
o WAR- War in ancient India had been an important instrument of foreign policy. It was an
attempt to measure effectiveness of the relative strength of a king. Kautilya describes war
as an attempt to impose one's will over the others and to compel them to accept his
supremacy. When a king is convinced that he can successfully repel the attack of the
enemy, he must prefer war to peace. A king whose foreign policy aims at acquiring more
power than what he actually has, seeks a favourable change in power status and pursues a
policy of expansionism.

Kautilya advises the king to avoid war and adopt peace. Before resorting to war the king should
make sure that his country is full of soldiers and fighting men.

Kautilya divides war into open battle, treacherous battle, and silent battle. When it is fought in
daylight and in some definite locality it is known as an open fight. Threatening in one direction
and assault in another, destruction of any enemy when he is in trouble and bribing a portion of
the army and destroying another are the various forms of treacherous fight.

Silent battle concerns itself with the secret practices and instigation through secret agent. An
attempt to win over the chief officers of the army by intrigue is the salient features of a silent
war.

Kautilya regarded three seasons as suitable for campaigning :

o December to January (Margasira Masam) was the month of starting on a complain of
long duration.
o March to April (Chaitra Masam) for one of the medium of durations and
o May to June (Jyertha Masam) for a short comrpargh. Was should be avoided during the
monsoon months.

o STRENGHNING THE AGREEMENT- Kautilya seems to favour peace to war like

ancient Indian thinkers and observes that when the advantages derivable from peace and
war are of equal character, one should prefer peace; for disadvantages, such as the lost of
power and wealth and sin are ever attending upon war.

o MARCHING- According to Kautilya, the third guna of foreign policy is marching.

Kautilya points out that making preparation for war is marching. If a king thinks that by
marching his troops, it is possible to destroy the work of his enemy, he may increase his
resources by marching. Marching can be done in order to put pressure on the opposition.

o NEUTRALITY- There are 3 aspects neutrality- keeping quiet, maintaining a particular

kind of policy of non-interference and withdrawl of hostile action for the sake of one’s
interest and taking no step against an enemy. It can be adopted out of indecisions or
pressure from external forces.

o ALLIANCE AND DOUBLE POLICY- Kautilya says that one should make an alliance
with a king who is situated between two powerful kings shall seek protection from the
stronger of the two or he may make peace with both of them an equal terms. A king may
make an alliance with the Madhyama king or the neutral king.

o Double policy is an instrument of maintaining geo political equilibrium in the

horizontal plane. Kautilya prescribes that an inferior king should make peace with
a powerful king and wage war against a superior king and vice-versa
 o TERRITORIAL RELATIONS- The doctrine of Mandala means a circle with a centre or
nucleolus with organic power system. The concept of the circle of states is a brilliant step
towards territorial relations among the state which form the circle of states. The circle of
states enables all the states concerned to use the territory of the other for carrying trade
and commerce and also to lead army in times of war. The Mandala doctrine or council of
state is regarded as the ancient Indian equivalent of the theory of Balance Of power.

PEACE POLITICS OR UPAYAS

There are four upayas – sama (conciliation), dana (concession or gift), danda (punishment) and
bheda (dissension) to realise an objective or aim and they have existed since the period of epics
and the Dharmashastra. These upayas were to be used in times of peace by the king in his
foreign relations. He said that foreign relations would be determined by self-interest, not by
ethical concerns. It is pertinent to mention that there is a hierarchy in use of these upayas in the
order as sama, dana, bheda while danda or use of force would be the last resort.

The four upayas given by Kautilya are explained below.

o SAMA- There are five meanings attached to sama or conciliation. One, merit (actual or
fictitious) of the target person is praised. Adulation is used to soften up the counterpart to
erode his will to resist. Pedigree, personal qualities, occupation and good nature of the
target are praised either personally or to a third party. Second, mutual connections like
common kinship, ethnicity or social status and commonalities like taste and education are
often invoked to psychologically disarm the opponent. Third, the counterpart is made to
believe that cooperation with the opponent is in his best interests. Fourth, benefits like
material gains or other advantages are highlighted to the opponent and lastly, concession
and compromise is promised to the opponent irrespective of the fact whether it would
really materialize or not. Giving a high rank or awarding an honor is also a method of
conciliation with a potential enemy.
o DANA- In case conciliation does not work out, one has to take recourse to dana or gifts.
It may include cash payments, valuables, making territorial concessions or even handing
over hostages. Dana should be combined with sama to achieve effective results. Bribery
 could be one of the possible meanings of dana and state could use small expenses to
achieve bigger political and economic gains.
o BHEDA- Sowing a seed of discord is also called divide and rule. The first three upayas
refrain from using the force
o DANDA- It is the use of force or punishment and in inter-state relations, it means war.
War is very risky and costly and that is why; Kautilya preferred covert actions – tusnim-
yuddha. Sabotage and assassinations of leaders of a rival country are an effective means
to achieve one’s own state interests. Covert operations have low cost while they can
achieve bigger gains.

ROLE OF ENVOYS
Envoy or duta was responsible for conducting diplomacy with other kingdoms. They were
deployed in courts of other rulers and played an important part in conducting foreign policy. The
envoys belonged to a noble family and were well versed in all types of sciences. They required a
good memory in order to recall their conversations with important people in foreign kingdom.
The envoys were divided in different categories depending on their qualities. The top most
envoys had the power to negotiate on behalf of their king and they stayed in the country of their
accreditation for a longer time to tilt the balance of power in favour of his king. The lower most
were mere messengers who would pass on the king’s message and fetch the reply. Certain
immunities were enjoyed by the envoys like they could not be killed, had freedom of movement
in the state and were exempted from paying ferry and custom duties.

Duties of the envoy included the following-

POTENTIAL ENEMIES ACCORDING TO KAUTILYA
Potential enemies were those to whom one showed a friendly face. They might be your ally or
there might be no particular relationship between your country and theirs. But eventually, they
would become enemies or so.

When Kautilya described exterminating an enemy, he meant killing only the leaders. He believed
that the best policy toward enemy soldiers and citizens was to treat them well…and then recruit
them.

To him “Act despotically and you lose the support of the people”.

In this, Kautilya was unique. Kautilya pointed out that “If weak in might, a king should endeavor
to secure the welfare of his subjects. The countryside is the source of all undertakings.

He does seem to have preferred an army of kshatriyas – the Greek ambassador to

Chandragupta’s court notes that nearly one-fifth of the population were of this class – but in
times of emergency, he would prefer the balance of the army come from the two lower classes of
society.

It is better to attack an enemy that is disunited rather than one in which the citizens have
organized themselves into “bands.” Therefore, the first obstacle to overcome is to breakdown the
enemy’s trust and reliance on each other. For this task, Kautilya advocated spies and secret
agents who could exploit the divisions within a country and hopefully widen
such gaps.

o Every country, according to Kautilya, has four types of disgruntled citizens: the enraged,
the frightened, the greedy, and the proud. Secret agents should be employed to fan the
flames of their discontent. The king should win over the seducible by “means of
conciliation and gifts and those not seducible by means of dissension and force.”
o For countries that tried to remain neutral, he suggested ways of provoking a potential war
between them and a neighboring state. Then, should the neutral nation seek his king’s
help, it could be “placed under obligations.”
KAUTILYA’S MANDALA THEORY OF INTERSTATE RELATIONS
o To Kautilya nature of the distribution of the power belt, the uneven distribution of resources,
unequal growth of lines of communication, discoveries of new lands, racial and population
differences and economic imbalances are some of the factors which determine the nature of
inter-state relationship.
o Thinkers in ancient India advised the king to adopt the policy of peaceful co-existence and to
avoid war as far as possible. Hence, they tried to minimise the chances of war by advocating
a judicious balance of power among different kingdoms.
o He recognises that multiplicity of topographic features along political boundaries is a
constant source for conflict and instability.
o Similarly, when a river flows across the territories of two states, conflicts between the
neighbours develop and arise out of the behaviour of the state. On the other hand if the
neighbours who are not at good terms, defy the rules prescribed of the navigation. The
presence of potential forests and pasture lands in one's territory is another factor for mutual
disharmony.
o If a king thinks that his country is full of good soldiers and fighting men and the reverse is
the case with his enemy whose people are impoverished and oppressed and seem to be
disloyal to their master, then the king should march against such an enemy. The oppressed
people of the enemy shall be induced to immigrate to the conqueror's territory. The
conqueror must construct strategic fortifications to defend populous centres.
o Thus, Kautilya observes that the quality of population and its spatial concentration are two
factors largely affecting the interstate relationships that very much mould the behaviour of
the neighbours.
o The success of a foreign policy would very much depends on a combination of sound council
and material resources which would include revenue, army and enterprise.
o The general feeling is that it is easier or preferable to deal with an unjust king however strong
than a just king however weak because while in the case of an attack on the unjust king, the
population would desert the victim, in the case of a just king it would be the reverse.
o Kautilya is categorical that if progress of a kingdom is equally attainable through peace, or
war, then peace is to be preferred thereby saving the state from unnecessary expenditure on
men and material.
o He is very clear that if a king is to become a chakravartin, he must have all these three assets,
namely, military power, financial power and wisdom.