This treatise on government is said to have been written by the prime minister of India’s first great emperor, Chandragupta Maurya. Although often compared to Machiavelli’s Prince because of its sometimes ruthless approach to practical politics, Kautilya’s work is far more varied–and entertaining–than usual accounts of it indicate. He mixes the harsh pragmatism for which he is famed with compassion for the poor, for slaves, and for women. He reveals the imagination of a romancer in imagining all manner of scenarios which can hardly have been commonplace in real life.

The Institution of Spies

One of the most notorious features of the Arthashastra is its … Continue reading Kautilya: The Arthashastra (4th Century BCE)