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KAUTILYA’S PRAGMATISM
The Mauryan Empire 321-180 BCE
• With the Magadha state in
decline, Chandragupta Maurya
seized power from the last ruler of
Magadha
• The Maurya Empire was the largest
yet seen in India
 Chandragupta’s advisor.
 Brahmin caste.
 Wrote The Treatise on
Material Gain or the
Arthashastra.
 A guide for the king and his ministers:
 Supports royal power.
 The great evil in society is anarchy.
 Therefore, a single authority is Kautilya
needed to employ force when
necessary!
 KAUTILYA’S PRAGMATISM
• Kautilya prescribed four principles of conquest: the primary principle,
implies the use of rationalization

• but if this technique does not work then the second element is bribery.

• If this does not produce the desired result, then the tertiary principle is
the vehement use of violence.
 KAUTILYA’S PRAGMATISM
• If all three fail then the last machination is Bheet or sowing seeds of
dissension and discord.
Divide and Rule Policy…
 Sugession of Kautilla

The great evil in society is anarchy.

Therefore, a single authority is

needed to employ force when
necessary!

According to his teachings, the state should control

everything.
• The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) (Bengali
: বাংলাদেশ কৃ ষক শ্রমিক আওয়ামী লীগ Bangladesh Krishôk Sromik Aoami
Lig) was a political amalgamation of the Awami League with the 
Krishak Sramik Party
 “There is some self-interest
behind every friendship. There
is no friendship without self-
interests. This is a bitter truth.”

...... Kautilya
• Foreign Policy of different countries
Niccolo Machiavelli (1467 -1527)

• The action of a state, however cruel

or ruthless they may be, must
contribute towards the common
good of society
Machiavelli
 Asoka’s reign
(268-232 B.C.E.)

• Asoka’s first major undertaking

was to conquer a region of
east-central India known as
Kalinga.
• Battle of Kalinga - 260 BC
• 100,000 Kalingans died
• 150,000 Kalingans driven
from their home
• More died from disease &
starvation in the aftermath
of the destruction brought
on by the war
• What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a
victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout?
Is it valor to kill innocent children and women?

• Some scholars debate that because of the bloody campaign, Asoka

converted to Buddhism
• As a Buddhist, Asoka began preaching the virtues of good work,
nonviolence, and religious tolerance
• Asoka’s dhamma was his own invention and in essence an attempt to
suggest a way of life which was both practical, and convenient, as well
as highly moral.
Nonviolence and religious tolerance
 Nonviolence

Nonviolence is the personal practice of being harmless to self and

others under every condition
Religious tolerance is not religious
indifference

•  "We have to respect others and we have to understand and not

discriminate on the basis of faith. ... When people do not talk and
communicate, everything around them becomes dehumanized. ...
When you mix politics and religion, you get the worst of everything." 
Partition of India in 1947
• You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean;if a few
drops of the ocean, the ocean does not become dirty…….Mahatma
gandhi
 Utilitarianism

Greatest happiness for the greatest number

Wide distribution of happiness

Sasanka : The first Historical Emperor of
Bengal (590-626)
• Ruled over almost whole of Bengal – Anga, Banga, Kalinga
• Arch enemy of Harsha
• Killed Harsha’s brother Rajya in a war
• Also fought many wars with both Harsha on the West and
• Bhaskara the king of Kamrup on the East
• Established the common Bengali Era or Bangabda (???) at 593 AD
• Currently 1418 Bangabda
• After the death of Shashanka, both Bhaskara and Harsha conqured Bengal and
divided the whole kingdom between themselves
• This created another 100 years of chaos in Bengal (650 – 750 AD)
• This time is known as Matsanya – The rule of the fishes
 MATSYANYAYA

Matsyanyaya means ‘the law of the fish’ where big fishes eat up
small ones.
 The Pala Empire (700-1050)
The last Buddhist Empire in India

• Main emperors
of this era:
• Gopala
• Dharma Pala
• Deva Pala
 Cultivation of Knowledge and Learnings
• Nalanda Maha Bihar (University)
• Become most prominent at the time
of Harsha
• Vikram Shila Maha Bihar
(University)
Nalanda
• Became most prominent at the time
of Dharma Pala

Vikram Shila
Exchange of Learning between India and Far East

• Hiuen Tsang from China visited

Nalanda at the time of Harsha
• Kept a long record of the customs and
rules about the life of Harsha
• Sreegan Atish Deepankar went to Tibet
to spread Buddhism in Tibet
• He was the head of the Vikram Shila
Maha Vihar (University)
• Crossed the Himalayas to go to Tibet
Hieuen Tsang Atish Dipankar
when he was 80
 Golden age
• The long reign of the Palas form a glorious period in the history of
ancient Bengal.
• The dynasty ruled for about four hundred years, a rarity in the annals
of dynastic history.
Somapura mahavihara, paharpur
 Sena Dynasty

Revival of Hinduism
Caste System
• In the historical interpretations, there are four essential corollaries of
the theory of golden Bengal. These are:
• Bengal enjoyed continuous economic prosperity before the
establishment of British rule (i.e. free from famines);
• Bengal was “a land of plenty and cheapness”
• Poverty was unknown to the masses of Bengal
• Bengal was more prosperous than other contemporary societies.
Thank You