Arthashastra | |
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![]() 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script kept at the Oriental Research Institute, Mysore | |
Information | |
Religion | Hinduism |
Author | Kautilya |
Language | Sanskrit |
Period | 3rd century BCE – 3rd century CE |
Full text | |
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The Arthashastra (Sanskrit: अर्थशास्त्रम्, IAST: Arthaśāstram; transl. Economics) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, political science, economic policy and military strategy.[1][2][3] Chanakya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Kautilya, is traditionally credited as the author of the text.[4][5] Chanakya was a scholar at Taxila, the teacher and guardian of Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya.[6] Some scholars believe the three to be the same person,[7] while a few have questioned this identification.[8][9] The text is likely the work of several authors over centuries.[10] Composed, expanded and redacted between the 2nd century BCE and 3rd century CE,[11] the Arthashastra was influential until the 12th century,[12] when it disappeared. It was rediscovered in 1905 by R. Shamasastry, who published it in 1909.[13] The first English translation, also by Shamasastry, was published in 1915.[14]
The Sanskrit title, Arthashastra, can be translated as "political science" or "economic science" or simply "statecraft",[15][16] as the word artha (अर्थ) is polysemous in Sanskrit;[17] the work has a broad scope.[18] It includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal court systems, ethics, economics, markets and trade, the methods for screening ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, nature of peace, and the duties and obligations of a king.[19][20][21] The text incorporates Hindu philosophy,[22] includes ancient economic and cultural details on agriculture, mineralogy, mining and metals, animal husbandry, medicine, forests and wildlife.[23]
The Arthashastra explores issues of social welfare, the collective ethics that hold a society together, advising the king that in times and in areas devastated by famine, epidemic and such acts of nature, or by war, he should initiate public projects such as creating irrigation waterways and building forts around major strategic holdings and towns and exempt taxes on those affected.[24] The text was influenced by Hindu texts such as the sections on kings, governance and legal procedures included in Manusmriti.[25][26]
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