Kautilya (324 – 248 BC)

Introduction
Kautilya also referred to as Chanakya and Vishnugupta was born in 324 BC. He was the
Minister in the kingdom of Chandragupta Maurya from 317 BC to 293 BC. He is described
as a ‘saint’, ‘a ruthless administrator’, ‘the King Maker’ and a ‘devoted nationalist’. Many
have compared him with Plato and Machiavelli. A great laureate of economics and politics,
he comes across as the greatest of the diplomats of the world.

Works of Kautilya
➢ Arthashastra
➢ Chanakyaniti

Arthashastra
➢ The views of kautilya are contained in his monumental work Arthashastra.
➢ The word Arthashastra means the science (shastra) of Wealth/Polity/Earth (Artha).
➢ It is a book on Statecraft written in 4th century BC.
➢ The text is divided into 15 chapters known as books. Different books deal with
different
subject matters like:
• Polity
• Economy
• Society
• War
• Diplomacy
• International Relations.
➢ Kautilya’s Arthashastra states that good governance is based on the following
branches of knowledge:
• Anvikasi (Philosophy)- "Lamp of all sciences"
• Trayi (The three vedas) - Cultural Context
• Varta- Economic Policy
• Dandaneeti (Science of Government and Politics)Basis of State Governance

Kautilya on State
➢ Kautilya did not subscribe to the theory of ‘Divine Origin of the Monarch’.
➢ According to him, Monarchy was a human institution and was manned by a
human being.
➢ The King was the protector of Dharma of the whole society.
➢ He describes the King as the servant of the people who receives payments in the
form of taxes for the services rendered to the people.
➢ The state according to Kautilya enables two things:
• Practice of Dharma
• Bhog (enjoyment) of private property rights.
➢ He gives extensive list of duties which the King must perform.
➢ His foremost duty is:
• Rakshana (Protection)
• Palana (Nuture)
➢ The King derived power from three sources:
• Prabhushakti (Power of army and treasury)
• Mantashakti ( Advice of the Ministers)
• Utsahshakti (Charisma)

The Saptang Theory (Seven Elements of State)

➢ Kautilya has mentioned seven elements essential for the state. These seven
elements (Doctrine of 7 Prakritis) are also known as seven elements of Sovereignty.
➢ He described the Swami as the soul and the other six elements of the state as the
body. According to him body politic grows and declines with the swami.
➢ The seven elements or Prakritis or Limbs include:
Swami (The Ruler)
Janapada (The Population)
Kosha (The Treasury)
Mitra (Ally or Friend)
Bala (The Army)
Durga (The Fortified Capital)
Amatya (The Minister)

Swami (The Ruler)

➢ The first and the most important element.
➢ He is the centre and plays the most important role. Swami means the Monarch.
➢ According to kautilya, he should be well learned and brave.
➢ He should be born in a noble family and should be a native of the soil.
➢ All the important appointments are made by him. He supervises the government
➢ Kautilya gives extensive powers to his Monarch. However he must exercise this
power for the welfare of his subjects.
➢ According to Kautilya, king should treat his subjects as his children
➢ In the happiness of the subjects lies the happiness of the king. “Praja Sukham
Sukhe Rajya”.

Amatyas (Ministers)
➢ Senior ministers are known as Amatyas.
➢ They are meant to assist the Swami in day to day activities.
➢ According to Kautilya, Amatyas’s should be Brahmins. They should have the
knowledge of Vedas.
➢ They should be native to the country and must be faithful towards the king.
➢ The King should consult the Amatyas on important matters, collects taxes,
ensures defense of the state, etc.
➢ However at the same time he must also keep a check on the integrity of the
Amatyas towards him from time to time.
➢ Kautilya suggests that the King must keep three Amatyas, because two can easily
conspire against him.

Durga (Fort)
➢ Durga is the symbol of both offensive as well as defensive power of the state.
➢ He considered forts as vital part of the kingdom. He attached a great importance
to them for the defense of the empire.
➢ According to Kautilya, the state should have an adequate number of forts across
its territory at strategic locations to ensure the defense of the state.
➢ Kautilya has given a detailed idea with respect to different types of forts. He
refers to
four kinds of forts:
• Water fort
• Hill fort
• Desert fort
• Forest fort

Janapada (The Population/Territory)

➢ Janapada is the territory with people settled in it.
➢ According to Kautilya, the King must take care of the Janapada as it is the source
of revenue and other commodities.

Bala (Force)
➢ Kautilya mentions six types of armies – hired troops; hereditary forces; soldiers of
fighting corporation; troops belonging to an ally; troops belonging to an enemy;
soldiers of wild tribes.
➢ Kautilya accepted a strong and hereditary army of Kshatriyas as the most
important requisite of the state.

Kosha (Treasury)
➢ Kosha should be sufficient so that the king can take care of the welfare functions.
➢ It should be sufficient to meet any emergency or natural calamity.

Mitra (Allies)
➢ Mitra’s according to Kautilya have symbolic importance.
➢ It is the symbol of strength of the King.
➢ More number of Mitras means more powerful the King.
➢ Kautilya envisaged two types of Mitra’s:
• Sahaja – whose friendship was derived from the time of father and grandfather and were
situated close to the territory of the immediate neighborhood enemy.
• Kritrima – is the acquired ally for the protection of wealth and life.
➢ Kautilya held that ally of the first category is superior to the second one.
Kautilya’s Ideas on Foreign Policy
➢ According to Kautilya, king should aspire to become ‘Chakravarti Samrat’
➢ He calls the King as Vijigishu (The one who aspires for victory).
➢ War is Kshatriya Dharma and Rajadharma.
➢ According to Kautilya, the first action after the coronation of the King is to make
declaration for Expedition.

Kautilya gives the following Siddhants:

➢ Four Fold Policy
• It is the policy of Diplomacy. A country can adopt Four options:
✓ Sam (Peace)
✓ Dam (Economic Diplomacy)
✓ Danda (Coercive Diplomacy)
✓ Bheda (Use of Espionage)
➢ Shadagunya Niti (Six Fold Policy)

• Kautilya, regarding diplomacy suggested a six fold foreign policy. The six fold
policy includes:
✓ Sandhis (Peace) – If enemy is stronger, then go for Sandhi.
✓ Vigraha (War) – it means hostility towards a state. Kautilya believed that states
are always at war and seek power.
✓ Asana (Neutrality) – In case of equal power, an indifferent foreign policy works
well.
✓ Yana (Preparing for War) – Mobilising the forces for military exercises.
✓ Samsraya (Alliance) – Join hands with those who have similar objectives.
✓ Dvaidhibhava (Dual Policy) – For the time being, friendship with one enemy and
war with the other.
➢ Mandal Siddhanta (Theory of Circles)
• It is the theory of Geo-strategy. It is the strategy of war.
• Purpose – Preparation of the strategy for wars.
• It explains the relations between states.
• Mandal Siddhanta explains about 12 kings or 12 circles of state.
• Vijigishu has to calculate the position of his enemy and his friends.
• He has to calculate the status of 12X7 elements of Sovereignty, which is equal
to 84 elements of sovereignty before starting a war.
• The Mandal theory is based on the principle of Balance of Power. Description of Mandal
Theory:
1. Vijigishu – Main King
2. Kings in Front
a) Ari – Neighbor. He is a natural enemy.
b) Mitra – Ari’s immediate neighbor is the Mitra of Vijigishu.
c) Ari Mitra
d) Mitra Mitra
e) Ari Mitra Mitra
3. Four kings in the back (Parshva)
a) Parshva Nigrah
b) Akranda – Friend in the back
c) Parshva Nigrah Sara
d) Akranda Sara
4. Kautilya mentions two more kings:
a) Madhyama – Buffer State. Vijigishu should try to bring Madhyama on his side.
b) Udasina – Neutral State. Vijigishu should try to bring Udasina under his control.
➢ Kautilya has mentioned four types of Wars:
• Kutayudha (Tactical Fighting)
• Mantrayudha (Diplomatic war)
• Prakashayudha (Open war)
• Tushnim Yudh (secret agents war)
➢ Kautilya has mentioned three types of Victories:
• Dharma Vijay (Righteous Conquest)
• Lobha Vijay (Acquisitive Conquest)
• Asura Vijay (Demonic/unfair Conquest)
➢ Role of Ambassadors
• Kautilya has described the role of Ambassadors and their qualities.
• According to him, Ambassadors have a very important role in the foreign policy.
• He suggests the king to choose a handsome person as an ambassador.
➢ Use of Religion
• Kautilya suggests using religion in the affairs of the state.
• The king can send religious persons/sadhus to the enemy king who can tell
him that his bad times have come.
• This strategy is to weaken the enemy king psychologically.

Kautilya on Corruption
➢ His writings about corruption in the ancient times of India show that corruption
has
been an inevitable part of political life.
➢ His approach towards corruption is practical.
➢ He gives special attention towards mis-appropriation of funds by public officials as
well as magistrate or judges.
➢ Why Corruption is a problem?
Corruption directly affects the prospects of the material well being. This generates
disaffection towards the kings. Subjects may join the hands with the enemies to
overthrow the king.
➢ However, according to Kautilya, Corruption is Inevitable:
• Human Nature – humans are easily corruptible. It is extremely difficult to stay away from
temptation.
• Public Officials – For Public officials holding money, it is impracticable to think that they will not
use the public money for private purposes.
• He states that it is impossible to not taste honey or poison at the tip of the tongue.
➢ According to Kautilya it is difficult to tackle corruption:
• According to him, it is easy to detect the movement of the birds flying in the sky, but it is not
easy to detect the mis-appropriation of funds.
• There are many ways the officials can engage in corruption. He states forty ways of
embezzlement.
➢ How to tackle Corruption?
• Right sizing the Bureaucracy.
• Transfer officials at regular intervals before he knows all the loop holes.
• Within offices, there should be internal scrutiny and surveillance mechanism.
• He mentions Suchaks (Whistle-blowers). The king should reward them.
• Fines and punishment for corrupt officials. Forcing them to repay the person who suffered due
to his corruption.
• Humiliation of corrupt officials in public.
• Punishment not only to the corrupt official, but the entire chain. Chain also includes the Dayak
(one who gives bribe), Pratigraha (one who receives money) and Nidhayak (one who keeps the
money).

Kautilya and Machiavelli

➢ Kautilya belonged to ancient India, whereas, Machiavelli belongs to the Italy of
16thcentury.
➢ There has been a tradition to compare Kautilya and Machiavelli
➢ Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called Kautilya as “Indian Machiavelli”.
➢ Max Weber in his book ‘Politics as Vocation’ has mentioned that Kautilya was
more Machiavellian than Machiavelli. If we look at Kautilya’s king, Machiavelli’s
Prince is harmless.
➢ Similarities between Kautilya and Machiavelli:
• Both are Realists.
• Both believe that human nature is Corruptible.
• Both are supporters of expansionist foreign policy.
• Both of them wanted to establish Law and Order, protection and progress of motherland.
• Both sanction use of Religion in the interest of the Nation.
• Both permit use of immoral means.
➢ Differences between Kautilya and Machiavelli:
• They belonged to different time and space
• In Kautilya, there is no strict separation between Dharma and Danda. King is not above
Dharma. He believes in Varna system.
• Kautilya is a supporter of Monarchy as a form of government. Whereas for Machiavelli, his
ideal government is Republicanism.

Quotes of Kautilya
➢ “Every neighboring state is an enemy and the enemy’s enemy is a friend.”
➢ “Just as it is impossible to know when a swimming fish is drinking water, so it is
impossible to find out when a government servant is stealing money”
➢ “The arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But
stratagems
devised by a wise man can kill even babes in the womb.”
➢ “Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such
friendships
will never give you any happiness.”
➢ “Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth.”

Conclusion
Kautilya represents the realist tradition of Indian Political Thought. His Arthashastra as
the book of Statecraft is regarded as one of the best works in the field of Political science as
Public administration. It leaves no branch of human life and related activity untouched.