Arthashastra is an ancient book of India. Kautilya (also known as Chanakya) wrote this book. Kautilya was a minister of Chandragupta Maurya (321 BC – 297 BC), an emperor of Ancient India. After many revisions and additions, the book took its present form about 1800 years before, in the 2nd century.
The book is divided into fifteen sections. It tells about politics and administration. Different sections of the book talk about many subjects, such as: war and politics "rule with a harsh hand"