Notes Political Philosophy

Kautilya’s Political Thought:

Introduction:

 Kautilya also known as Chanakya.

 The 4th century BCE, Ancient Indian political philosopher.

 He lived in Maurya Empire and was the adviser of King Chandra Gupta.

 Chandra Gupta was inspired by his political ideas.

 Kautilya’s master work is Arth-Shastra, it is a collection of 15 books also called

parts.

Kautilya’s Political Views:

 His political views fall under the realist school of thought.

 His political views are very similar to Medieval Political philosopher Machiavelli.

 He encourages war against neighbor for acquiring lands.

 According to him, the first enemy of state is its neighbor.

 And he considers war a positive act of state.

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Notes Political Philosophy

Arth-Shastra of Kautilya:

 Arth-shastra was composed in 15 parts of 150 chapters.

 It mainly focuses on the state craft.

 It argues in his book that how a ruler should be.

 In his book, Kautilya discusses mainly on followings:

o First 5 parts on Internal Matter of State.

o 6 to 13 deals with External Matters of State.

o And last 2 parts discuss the casual matters of state.

 In his book he described 34 institutions of any Government.

 In his book he describes the art of war.

 This book is considered the first of book of geo-politics.

External Affairs According to Kautilya:

 A large portion of his book contains the strategies that how to deal external affairs of

any state.

 He believes there is no permanent friend or enemy in International Affairs.

 As he argued that the material wellbeing is supreme of all goals.

 The land was the main material source of ancient time.

 In this regard, in his master piece, he dictated the idea of acquiring lands.

 He argues that war for acquiring the lands is natural and positive.

 As he considers neighbors are the first enemy, he encourages to war against them for

capturing lands.

 He was very rigid on external affairs of state.

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 Notes Political Philosophy

Kautilya’s Theory of State:

 His theory of state is a realist theory.

 His theory of state is organic, which means, state is an organism.

 State has seven 7 organs or elements.

 The first element is king and king is the center of state.

 And all the other 6 elements are around and under the king.

Senior
Minister

Fort/
Allies
Defence

King
Treasury/ People/
Economy territory

Military

King
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Treasure/
Senior Minister Fort/ Defence Territory/ People Military Allies
Notes Political Philosophy

The Characteristics of Kautilya’s King:

 A king is a central organ or element of the state and irreplaceable.

 He said, king should not be arrogant towards his subjects.

 As per he said, the happiness of king is lies in the happiness of his subjects.

 But not as polite that anyone could exploit him easily.

 His statement for king is similar that of Machiavelli.

o “A ruler must be feared more than he loved”

 Also, according to him, a ruler must not be cruel toward his subjects.

 He argues, the important objective of the king is to secure the material wellbeing of its

subjects.

 The ARTH in his master piece denotes the material wellbeing.

o “Material wellbeing is supreme of all goals” (Kautilya).

Kautilya’s Art of War:

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Notes Political Philosophy

 According to Kautilya, King should adopt following Diplomatic strategies for

achieving its national interests:

1. Treaty: Go for a treaty if your enemy is strong.

2. Break Treaty: Break the treaty when you are strong.

3. Station your Army: Station you army near enemy’s border.

4. Deterrence: conduct military exercises near enemy’s border to deter you her

5. Objectives: Make allies who have same objectives as yours.

6. Dual Policy: Don’t go war on two fronts, friendship with one war with other.

Upayas Diplomacy of Kautilya:

 The Upayas strategy of Kautilya are four types of diplomacy for achieving what the

king and state desires for its material wellbeing.

 Sam: First seek for conciliation or making peace through treaty.

 Dam: Economically trap the enemy. Economic Diplomacy.

 Dand: If not achieved what you desired for, then use force.

 Bhed: indirectly creates anarchy in enemy state. Creating separatist groups and

supporting such activities. Simply division is called Bhed A/c to Kautilya.

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