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Chanakya

For other uses, see Chanakya (disambiguation).

Chanakya (IAST: Cāṇakya; c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser and Prime minister to Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340-293 BCE). He played a key role in helping Chandragupta in the establishment of Maurya Empire.[1]

Acharya

Chanakya
चाणक्य
Chanakya artistic depiction.jpg
Chanakya on the cover of R. Shamasastry's 1915 translation of Arthashastra
Bornc. 375 BCE
Chanaka village in South India (according to Jain texts); or Takshashila (according to Buddhist texts)
Diedc. 283 BCE
Pataliputra, Maurya Empire
OccupationTeacher, philosopher, economist, jurist, political advisor, prime minister
Known forHelping Chandragupta Maurya build the Maurya Empire; writing the Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti
RelativesChanak (father)

Early Life

Chanakya was born into a Brahmin family. He learned about politics, astrology, war, and medicine.[2][3] He studied at Takshashila, a famous school in ancient India.[4] He became very knowledgeable and later became a teacher. The word Kautilya means "Crookedness", and he was also known as Chanakya and Kautilya.[5]

Helping Chandragupta

When Chanakya saw that India was not united and foreign rulers were invading, he wanted to change that. He met Chandragupta, a brave and intelligent boy. Chanakya trained him and helped him fight against the Nanda kings.[6][7]

Together, they won, and Chandragupta became the first Maurya emperor around 321 BCE. Chanakya became his chief minister, which led to him helping Chandragupta govern the kingdom.[8]

Arthashastra

Chanakya [Kautilya] wrote a book called Arthashastra meaning "science of wealth"[9][10][11] or "Manual of Politics".[12] It is a book about how to run a government, manage money, fight wars, and keep peace.[13] It is one of the oldest books on politics in the world.[14] The Mauryan Empire was governed by the system noted in Arthashastra, which was similar to Machiavellian system.[15][16]

Media

  • Television series Chanakya is a fictionalized account of the life and times of Chanakya.
  • A book has been published in English titled 'Chanakya on Management"{18} in which each of the 216 sutras on raja-neeti has been translated and commented upon. Clearly, the entire system of thought propounded by Chanakya is based on following good ethical principles.
  • In his Arthasastra, Chanakya has discussed widely various economic issues. A book written by Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen has dealt exhaustively with these economic concepts of Chanakya and their relevance for the modern world.[17]
  • Many eminent Kautilya experts from all over the world had discussed various aspects of Kautilya's thought in an International Conference held in 1902 at Oriental Research Institute, Mysore, India to celebrate the Centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.[18]

Chanakya Media

  • Dhana Nanda's empire, c. 323 BCE

References

  1. ↑ Pramod Chandra. South Asian Arts (2024)Encyclopædia Britannica Online. p. 73.
  2. ↑ Michael Shally-Jensen. The Ancient World (2700 B.C.E. - c.500 C.E.) (2015)Grey House Publishing. p. 128–129.
  3. ↑ Vincent A. Smith. Oxford Student History of India (1919)Oxford University Press. p. 51.
  4. ↑ Geoffrey Wawro. Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World (2011)Global Book Publishing. p. 64.
  5. ↑ Wendy Doniger, David Biale. The Norton Anthology of World Religions, Volume I (2015)W. W. Norton & Company. p. 710.
  6. ↑ D. G. Apte. Universities in Ancient India (2019)Reprint of 1917 Edition. p. 20–21.
  7. ↑ The Oxford Classical Dictionary (2003)Oxford University Press. p. 1353.
  8. ↑ Mauryan Empire (in en). education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  9. ↑ Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis. Studies in Machiavellianism (1970)Academic Press. p. 7.
  10. ↑ Rodney Edvinsson. An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption: A Transhistorical Framework (2023)Open Book Publishers. p. 16–17.
  11. ↑ The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000)Columbia University Press. p. 521.
  12. ↑ The Cambridge History of India, Volume I (1922)Cambridge University Press. p. 151.
  13. ↑ Erik Ringmar. History of International Relations: A Non-European Perspective (2019)Open Book Publishers. p. 49–50.
  14. ↑ The Cambridge World History, Volume IV (2015)Cambridge University Press. p. 517.
  15. ↑ A Cultural History of India (1975)Oxford University Press. p. 2, 39.
  16. ↑ The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology (2003)Oxford University Press. p. 1416.
  17. ↑ Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen: Ancient Indian Economic Thought, Relevance for Today, ISBN 81-316-0125-0, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2008
  18. ↑ Raj Kumar Sen & Ratan Lal Basu (eds): Economics in Arthasastra, ISBN 81-7629-819-0, Deep& Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2006

Other websites

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