Journal of Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University ESPIONAGE IN ARTHASASTRA OF KAUTILYA RN PSINGH & PRADEEP KUMAR JAMBULKAR ; Department of Political Science Got. Digvijay College Rajnandgaon MS Received 27.4.91 Abstract For the first time in the history of ancient Indian espionage was institutionalised during the period of Kautitya and Chandragupta Maurya. It covered various kinds of activities, both state and private, inside and outside the state. Spies used various guises. ‘They used gudhya-tekhya to convey information to the institute of espionage. A part of their operations included counter espionage. Kautilya also refers toa system of expionage in which many states collaborated for common ends. In some striking ways the system of espionage described by Kautiya resembles the system of espionage employed by modern states. 1. Introduction States in ancient India were inclined to regard spies as highly indispensable and their work as of high importance. A King eager to outwit his enemy could not hope to attain success unless he employed spies to gather secretly all necessary information about his enemy, his military installations, his army strength, attitude of his subjects, and such other information as was likely to prove useful to him. Thus espionage in ancient India was sought to be governed by certain definite rules and usages. Manu, Kautilya, Kamandak and the authors of Ramayana and Mahabharata make mention ofit. Some dramas and kavyas also describe the internal and external activities of spies. Particularly in Kautilya’s Arthasastra we find a very developed system of espionage. Kautilya has devoted as many as four chapters on this topic. He has recommended the setting up of an institute of espionage (sattrinah samstha) for this purpose, Hence the study of espionage in the Arthasasira of Kautilya is of utmost importance. 2. Kinds of Spies Spies, according to Kaulilya, were of nine kinds. Kapatikachatra, or he who worked under the guise of a fraudulent disciple, or he who worked in the guise of kapatika (which Dr. Kane would interpret as abold pupil capable of knowing the mind of others); udasthita, or a sham ascetic who, having fallen off from the real duties of asceticism, was still endowed with intelligence and pure character; grhapatika, or he who Was a house holder, who was unable to eke out his livelihood but had intelligence and was of good character; vaidehaka, or a trader who, like the preceding one, being unable to lead the life of a trader, was still intelligent and of good character; tapasa, or he who desired to practice an austere life but could not make a living; satrin, or he who was a class-mate or colleague; tiksna, or he who was a desperado; rasad, or he who could administer poison; and, finally, a bhiksuki, or a medicant woman. While explaining in detail these spies Kautilya gives us a graphic account of the activities of spies in Mauryan and post Mauryan polity. The kapatika-chhatra seems to have directed his activities against persons. The udasthiata was endowed with cattle and cultivable lands in the province. Various spies were working under him and they were paid, clothed and fed by him. Their work was to detect crimes committed in8 RNP. Singh & Pradeep Kumar Jambutkar connection with the King’s wealth, These spies were to send separately their reports to the udasthita. The grhapatika and vaidehaka worked in the same manner as the udasthita. The tapasa had a host of spy disciples around him. His area was the city where his subordinates could practise palmistry, and his activities included a forecast of foreign affairs (videsa pravriti vijnanam) and even changes in ministerial appointments. These five (out of nine) classes of spies together formed one class called panca samsthah.* ‘The spies called satrin were selected from among the orphans maintained by the State, Satrins were taught sciences (Laksanam), palimstry (angavidya), sorcery (mayagata), legardemain (jambaka vidya), duties of the various orders of religious life (asrama-dharma) and the reading of omens and augury (antara cakra). This category of espionage, worked out by social intercourse, was called samsarga-vidya.” 3. Public Life of Officials Under Scrutiny . The tiksna spies or desperados were to espy the public character (bhayan caram) and movements of the following: ministers, priests, commanders of the army, the heir apparent, door-keepers, officers-in-charge of the harem, magistrates (prasastri), the collector-general, the chamberlain, the commissioner, the city- constable (nayaka), the officer-in-charge of the city (paura), the superintendent of transactions (vyavaharika), the superintendent of manufacturies (karmantika), the council of ministers (mantriparisad), heads of departments (adhyaksah), the commissary general (danddapala) and officer-in-charge of the fortifications, boundaries and wild tracts. Thus the public activities of all the above highest officials came under the close observations of these well-trained spies, the desperados. The information they collected was transmitted to the King through the institutes of espionage (Samsthavarpaye yuh).© 4. Private Life Under Scrutiny The private life of all the above officials came under scrutiny of the rasada or poisoner spies. They collected information through the agency of women mendicants for transmission tothe institute of espionage, The information thus collected was tested by the officers of the institute (samthanam-antevasinah), who by signs or writing (samjna-lipi-vhih), verified it through their own spies. ‘The officers at the institute of espionage and the wandering spies did not know each other. When the information received from three different sources (i.e. through the ‘women medicants, the classmate spies, and the poisoner spies) was found to be exactly the same, it was considered reliable, If the three sources frequently differed, the spies concerned were either punished or dismissed, Incidently we may note that spies also used gudhyalekhya or secret writing to convey their information to the institute of espionage. 5. Spies in Foreign Service Some spies were sent to foreign kingdoms to secure employment. They were paid from the Home Department. They secretly furnished firsthand information regarding the enemy. These spies went by the name of ubhayavetanas. The other business of these spies was to discover the spies set by foreign kings. Spies under the guise of astrologers and readers of omens and auguries were set in motion to ascertain theEspionage in Arthasatra of Kauttya relationship of the local people with foreign kings. By such means the king was advised to protect himself against the intrigues of foreign chiefs.® According to Dr P.C. ‘Chakravarti, espionage in foreign tates took three forms, viz. political, diplomatic and military. the first involved an attempt to get into touch through secret emissories with the discontented or disloyal elements in the hostile state, and utilize their services for the destruction of the latter. Various forms of political espionage of this kind have been elaborated by Kautilya in the Arthasastra Bk. 1, Ch 14, Bk VII and XII. Strangely enough, some of these have a curious fesemblanoe to methods employed by Hitler and ‘Mussolini on the eve of the Spanish Civil War? Diplomatic espionage was carried on by ambassadors and diplomatic agents in foreign courts. The duties of these officers in peace- time included not merely the carrying out of negotiations, but also observation of what went on in the kingdoms to which they were accredited. They were specially expected to keep an eye on allmatters which, directly or indirectly, affected the interests of the State they represented. While discussing the duties of the ambassador (duta), Kautilya enjoins that " the envoy shall make friendship with the ememy’s officers such as those incharge of wild tracts, of boundaries, of cities, and of country parts, He shall also contrast the military stations, sinews of war, and strongholds of the enemy with those of his own master. He shall ascertain the size and arca of forts and of the state, as well as strong-holds of precious things, and assailable and unassilable points’! From the above account, Dr Chakravarti concludes that an ambassador in ancient India, like his modern prototype, was nothing more than an honourable spy acting under the protection of the customary law."? Military espionage consisted in the employment of secret agents to procure accurate information regarding the military resources of the hostile state, plants and movements of the hostile army, and safeguarding one’s own camp and army from the poisonous contamination of enemy's spies. Further, Kautilya advocates the employment of spies alongwith the marching army, in the camp and also in the fighting line. They were to keep up the morale ofthe troops "by declaring the success oftheir own operations and the failure of those of the enemy.” They were also to harass the enemy, create divisions in their rank, and demoralise the hostile king’ by telling him that his own fort was burnt, stormed or that some one of his family or an enemy or wild chief rose in rebellion." Conclusion In Kautilya’s Arthasastra we find a very developed system of espionage. There seems to have been a network of spies throughout the Country. ‘The ruler kept information about the working of his own officers and the activities of private citizens and foreign rulers as well as their agents through those spies. There was a central espionage department, This department controlled the activities of all spies, within the country and in foreign states. Spies were active during peace as well as war time. Their job was strenuous and difficult, therefore great rewards were given to them on the successful accomplishment of the work assigned to them. Espionage required utmost secrecy. Kautilya states the various guises to be adopted by spies. Spies were to move about in the guises of ascetics, merchants, astrologers, sooth sayers etc. One very striking feature of espionage is the mention of a class of spies at the pay of various states for detection of robbers and other criminals." An international code10 RNP. Singh & Pradeep Kumar Jambulkar had developed and it was felt tobe a duty of all law-abiding states to help in the detection of robbers and others who threatened the security of ife and property ofthe common Citizens. ‘The other striking feature of the espionage system described by Kautilya is the mention of a class of spies which touched everyone except the king. The only plausible explanation that could be offered in this connection is that the age which witnessed the rise to power of Chandragupta Maurya was one of disloyality at home and perfidy abroad. There were numerous adherents of the old royal house of the Nandas in Magadh and sympathizes of the Macedonians in the North-Western parts of the country, Perhaps it was to solve this double danger that faced the new rising Mauryan State that Kautilya introduced a system of espionage which had no parallel anywhere else in the world at that time in respect of its intricate working, extensive powers, and hold in the administration. = NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. HL Chatterjee Intemational Law & Inter-State Relations in Ancient India Firma KL Calcutta 1958 109. 2. OF these special mention may be made of the Mrechakatika VII 8, the Mudraraksasa of Visakhadatta, Bhavabhuti’s Uttara- Ramacarita, Bharvi's Kiraterijuniya 119 and Magha’s Sisupalavadha 11, 82, 113, XX 23, Dandi’s Daskumara Carita. . Arthasastara BK 1Ch 11 t. For details see Saletore B L Ancient Indian Political Thought and Institutions Asia Publishing House Bombay 1968 481. Also see Arthasastra B K 1 Ch 11 Saletore BL Op Cit 482 Arthasastra BK 1Ch8, Also see Dikshitar VR R War in Ancient India Madras 1948 336 Arthasastra BK 1 Ch 16 Dikshitar V R R Op Cit 357-358 . Chakravarti PC The Ant of War in Ancient India Dacca University 1942 70. 10, Arthasastra BK 1 Ch 15 1. Chakravarti P C Op Cit 71. Dr Kane cites the Encyclopaedia Britanica which says that an ambassador is" an honourable spy acting under the Law of Nations.” History of Dharma-Shashtra Poona 1930 129. Dr Dikshitar distinguishes the spy from the duta Op Cit 72-73. This is a controversial issue which needs separate discussion and investigation, 12, Anthasastra BK 10 Ch6 13, Ibid BK 1 Ch XII Sec 21 14, Compare with activities of the League of Nations in stopping inter-national traffic in women ete. an Ae yen