ARTHASHASTRA | BOOK REVIEW

 

Arthashastra | Kautilya | Book Review

REVIEW:

An ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on politics, economics, military tactics, and statecraft is known as the Arthashastra. Tradition has claimed that the text's author is Kautilya, also known as Vishnugupta and Chanakya. The latter was Emperor Chandragupta Maurya's tutor and protector while he was a student at Takshashila. While some academics doubt this identification, others think they are the same individual. The material was probably written over several centuries by a number of authors. The Arthashastra was written, revised, and expanded between the second and third centuries CE, and it had an impact until the 12th century, when it vanished. R. Shamasastry rediscovered it in 1905 and published it in 1909. Published in 1915, the first English translation was likewise done by Shamasastry.