Kautilya’s Kutayuddha 300 BCE–300 CE: Part 4

Kautilya’s arthasastra and Ancient Chinese Philosophy: A Comparative Analysis The Chinese tradition was characterized to a great extent by Legalism, which is a long-term policy for preserving and conserving the state. Legalist classics note that human beings are naturally self-seeking, so the wise ruler should use liberal rewards and stringent punishments in order to motivate […]
Kautilya’s Kutayuddha 300 BCE–300 CE: Part 3

Clausewitz and Kautilya On War, or Vom Kriege, was first published in three volumes in Berlin between 1832 and 1834. Its author, Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz, was born on 1 June 1780, at Burg, near Magdeburg. His grandfather was a professor of theology, and he was a Lutheran pastor. Clausewitz made little reference to […]
Kautilya’s Kutayuddha 300 BCE–300 CE: Part 2

Kautilya as a Realist Philosopher and a Theorist of Power Realist theorists of international relations assume that the state is a unitary actor with coherent objectives and a centralized capacity to act on its decisions.42 The Realist School argues that the behaviour of states is shaped by the power at their disposal in the fiercely […]
Kautilya’s Kutayuddha 300 BCE–300 CE: Part 1

The debate regarding the dating and authorship of the Arthasastra continues. Thomas Trautmann argues that the Kautilya Arthasastra is actually a composite product of three or four different individuals. In Trautmann’s view, Kautilya is at best a compiler and editor of the teachings of previous teachers belonging to the arthasastra tradition.1 In a somewhat similar […]