National University of Study and Research in Law

Ranchi

The Indic Roots of Espionage

Submitted To: Submitted By:
Dr. Sreemoyee Sarkar Uttam Sah Gond
Teaching Assistant Semester III (Section B)
History I Roll No. 1207

ABSTRACT
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Today, espionage is not only a tool but also a necessary component of battle. Since the
second half of the 20th century, popular culture has been obsessed with spies, with phrases
like "sabotage" and "double agent" becoming commonplace. Despite the considerable
literature available on other issues of international security, there has been remarkably little
academic attention dedicated to strategic considerations and the design of espionage
frameworks. The gap in the literature is so great that Christopher Andrew, widely regarded
as our generation's best intelligence historian, claims that fiction is responsible for
considerably more popular awareness of espionage than non-fiction. Despite the fact that
spying is sometimes referred to as the "second oldest profession," our knowledge of it is, at
best, minimal.

Research on the oldest known espionage framework, notably the frameworks discovered in
Ancient India's military philosophy, provides another severe gap in this already scant topic.
The tremendous Indic legacy on forming and categorizing spy networks is mostly neglected in
international academia. They are barely mentioned in major publications of military
intelligence. This study will fill a gap in the literature by giving light on India's sophisticated
spy system and contrasting it with contemporary problems in international politics such as
monitoring and assassination. This analysis will also seek to show that the Indian approach
to spy craft is proof of a form of 'realism' that goes beyond pragmatic realpolitik and goes
beyond the standard definition of the term.

Keywords: Spy, Espionage, Arthashashtra, Chanakya, Kautilya

INTRODUCTION:

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The emergence of espionage occurred in a society that was strikingly realist. Even a brief
examination of ancient Indian espionage reveals how the concept was developed for
pragmatic reasons rather of moral disgust. While the acts themselves were intended to be
carried out in secrecy, it was the strategic imperative, not the ethical one, that drove this
decision. Spying and assassination departments were always intended to be routine state
organs, not the grey area we see today.

The earliest evidence of spies dates from the pre-historic period of Indic civilisation, when
knowledge had to be passed down orally from generation to generation, roughly spanning
modern-day Afghanistan to Myanmar. In traditional Indian belief, the Vedas are the most
revered and oldest books. The Rig Veda, the most prominent 'text' in the Vedic canon,
mentions spies, or 'spasa,' who are used by the god Varuna, even elaborating on their
characteristics like knowledge and fearlessness. The Rig Veda is regarded by contemporary
chroniclers to have been codified into an oral form around three thousand years ago, while
the origins of Vedic study antecede that by centuries or indeed glories, with no dependable
estimate of their age. One can therefore conclude with reasonable certainty that this is the
oldest being reference of spying. Indeed in the ancient epics that remain hallowed to this day,
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, there are multiple references not only to intelligencers,
but to an intricate asset network that worked as an organ of the State.

For scholarly purposes, still, it's two seminal textbooks on statehood and legitimacy that
exfoliate the most light on asset craft in ancient Indic civilization, not the epics. They're the
Manusmrithi, a compendium of legal canons that's generally dated back to the 2nd Century
BCE and the Arthashastra, the notorious work of ancient realpolitik that utmost chroniclers
date back to the 3rd Century BCE. Both reveal a largely formalized and professional asset
system that was present during the period in which they were collected. While both bandy
justice and morality at great length, there's a strong realist turnabout running through the
textbooks. As with all other ancient Indic seminaries of study, the emphasis was always on
dharma or duty, a conception which, for utmost people, sustained diurnal life at the time.
Directly stemming from this conception of dharma or duty, an extensively accepted norm was
that the security of the State triumphs over all other enterprises and the State was seen as
having a cosmic duty to cover its citizens. Therefore, the State itself was anticipated to cleave
to a moral (or dharmic) law of conduct, much like the existent.

KAUTILYAN CLASSIFICATION OF SPIES

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The Arthashastra is tutored prolifically around the world today. Kautilyan doctrine, a core
element of the Arthashastra, has endured a particularly notable rejuvenescence in
fashionability. In the one hundred and fifty parts that make up this document, over 50 of them
have references to spying and the use of intelligencers. In the work, ancient Indian thinker
Kautilya lays out the precise ways in which a king is to rule, including modes of
administration, means of warfare, political strategy and profitable programs. He provides
what's maybe the first-ever professional classification for spies.

There are two primary types of spies in his frame, both of whom directly report to the king.
They're the Samstha, or stationary spies, and the Sanchara, or roving spies. The Samstha are
generally posted in other fiefdoms, suspicious areas and timberlands. Intelligence gathering
seems to be their primary ideal, having sneaked into critical areas under the guise of civilians.
They shoot reports and updates to their home base on the capabilities of rival States and
internal suspects. The Sanchara, on the other hand, were used for further violent purposes.
They were meant to be complete in wisdom, the use of venoms, combat, and disguise. The
Sanchara class of intelligencers would be more akin to the “James Bond” conception and the
glamorized interpretation of spies found in fiction.

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The categorization doesn't end there still. Kautilya strictly describes the colourful sub-types
that fall under each class of asset, as well as their functions. These go indeed further in
helping us understand the birth of asset networks. Under the Samstha, groups decide from the
parts of society the spies were signed from Kapatika ( scholars), Udashita ( eremites),
Grihapatika ( landlords), Vaideheka ( merchandisers) and Tapasa ( Cyrenaics). The Sanchara,
or roaming spies, on the other hand, were distributed based on their specialities Satri ( secret
agents), Tikshna (mercenaries), Rasada ( poisoners) and Bhiksuki (nuns).

SEAMLESS INTELLIGENCE TO DEAL WITH BOTH DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

THREATS:

Just prior to the USA’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, the then President, George W. Bush in his
State of the Union Address announced a series of measures to patch the gap that existed
between the FBI and CIA by creating a consolidation center. This is intriguing to note, given
the well- known tendency in ultramodern spying for similar organs of the State to clash. In
ultramodern fabrics, States distinguish between external and internal security, using different
structures to deal with each, and these bodies don't always work in harmony. Numerous have
noted that this pressure has been gravely ineffective to U.S. security. A similar state of affairs
has been faced by Indian intelligence agencies RAW, CBI and CID which leads to
intelligence failure leading to unfortunate incidents like the attack of 26/11, 2006 Mumbai
train bombings and many more.

In ancient times, similar situations were avoided because spies networks were considered
essential tools for the King to deal with foreign and domestic threats alike. The modern State
has distinct institutions to administer homeland security, external security and law
enforcement, but in the Indic scenario, only one eminent entity would have existed at the

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service of the King to take care of all the threats irrespective of which side of the boundary it
arose.

For example, the Kapatika were bright students or disciples trained by the State to become
intelligence officers. They swore devotion to the King and operated as general informants,
keeping an eye on the actions and motives of the adversaries. There are cases where they're
used for both domestic law enforcement – similar as for covert examinations – and for
dealing with external pitfalls. This meant that the same institution was responsible for
intelligence across disciplines, thereby precluding the inter-agency discordance which was
addressed by POTUS Bush in 2003.

“MANUFACTURING CONSENT” WITH RELIGION

One of the forgotten stories of the Cold War in the Twentieth Century is the part played by
religious institutions and religious numbers in the outgrowth of global events. There's a well-
proved education that shows, for illustration, just how vital a part Pope John Paul II played in
fighting the rise of Soviet power in Eastern Europe. What's intriguing to note in the
exploration is that indeed though he was the political leader of the Vatican, it was his part as
the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church that gave him similar influence. Kautilya
was well apprehensive of how similar power worked and created an elaborate system for
using religious numbers to achieve strategic objects.

There are no lower than three separate orders that deal with intelligencers disguised as
religious numbers in the Arthashastra. The Tapsa were Cyrenaics who would travel with an
cortege of votaries under the pretence of being great spiritual leaders. Tapsa would establish
their spiritual credentials by leading a stark life and eating veritably little in public (although
the cunning doctrine allows them to eat in secret any time they wish), two rates that the
populace took as embodying piousness. Meanwhile, Vaideheka, or trafficker intelligencers,
would arrive with lavish gifts to produce a buzz and spread the word that a new Jeremiah had
arrived. With the help of other intelligencers, Kautilya lists out a variety of ways in which the
Tapsa could makepre-planned prognostics, reveal retired information or prognosticate royal
rulings in order to move the crowd of his powers.

The intention of this form of spycraft was threefold. First, the asset was to gather information,
since the fat and important were likely to seek his aid. Second, the asset was to be a beginner
of feathers, recommending the brightest of the callers for royal blessings, effectively offering
him or her a public service position within the State. The third, and most important, the
intention was to spread propaganda. After precisely establishing him or herself as a
believable religious leader, the asset can be used to plant ideas or quell dissent among the
people, effectively manufacturing concurrence, without overt involvement from the State.

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DIPLOMATS AS SPIES

The tricky balance between tactfulness and spying remains an issue indeed in contemporary
politics. In March 2019, politic pressures arose between Iran and the Netherlands when two
Dutch diplomats were expelled from Tehran following allegations that Iranian intelligence
agencies were responsible for political killings in the Netherlands. Original media sources in
Iran reportedly pushed the idea that the expelled diplomats were intelligencers. This isn't an
insulated event, with countries from rival power blocs frequently making similar allegations
against each other.

In the Manusmriti, the legal florilegium of ancient Indic allowed, diplomats aren't just given
authorization to engage in intelligence gathering, it's listed out as one of their core duties.
According to the Manusmriti, the essential part of a diplomat was to observe the rival king,
both in terms of policy and particular character. The diplomat is to also convert and guess
what the coming moves made by negative States would be, transferring back regular updates.
Formerly again, this is quite a departure from ultramodern thinking on spying conditioning.
While it's an open secret that politic operations moment do share in intelligence work, there's
still a easily established contradiction between tactfulness and espionage. While there may be
a select many individualities in a politic platoon engaged in spying- related work, it's still an
exertion that's overtly lowered upon, with States incontinently denying responsibility if
similar allegations are made.

Therefore, one could say that the common practice moment is to have a politic staff, some of
whom might be involved in similar work. In the Manusmiriti still, this principle is turned on
its head by the realpolitik being supported. According to the doctrine then, it's one of the
abecedarian duties of every diplomat to bear like aspy.However, they MUST serve as
intelligence gatherers and intelligencers for the king; so says ancient Indian law, If diplomats
are to fulfill their dharmic duty.

ANCIENT BIG BOSS

State surveillance is another prominent content in the converse on transnational affairs that
diverges extensively when Indic and ultramodern generalizations are compared. Moment, a
number of countries are decreasingly exercising technologies that evoke concern over
whether the world is set on an Orwellian path where the State monitors everything. In the
United States, for case, allegations of mass surveillance conducted by the National Security
Agency led to a major debate on the balance between sequestration and security. There has
also been rising concern in countries like Australia, where surveillance technology is
decreasingly being used by law enforcement for prophetic and preventative measures;
average citizens are recorded on the roads with traditional CCTV, mobile CCTV, body-
cameras by the police, and indeed atomic drones. Interestingly, law enforcement officers in
similar countries are now needed to wear body cameras, with their duty to cover being
priority over the existent’s right to sequestration.

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Again, non-Western societies, similar as in the Indic tradition, don't always see the ever
vigilant eye of the state as a bad thing; some even grasp state surveillance. Indeed, the
ultimate is explosively corroborated in utmost of Ancient Indian study, particularly the
Manusmriti, where the law requires the king to conduct secret surveillance on his own
people. In duty- grounded societies, where public order is maintained by appealing to one’s
liabilities rather than rights, it's important that the State has as important information as
possible in order to apply its laws, as the entire social order is grounded on getting people to
bear in line with a collaborative morality. Observing as a system of achieving this is so
pervasive that the king is indeed instructed to asset on his own staff, including high-ranking
government officers.

Indic literalism incorporates a artistic morality that demands that the State produce what
ultramodern judges might call a‘ Big Family’ society. For the king to fulfill his dharmic duty,
he has to cover the people. In order for him to cover his people and maintain social order, he
requires information about felonious rudiments, iconoclastic testaments and expiring
revolutions. Thus the king is simply performing his cosmic duty – which is the ideal of every
human being in Indic gospel – by engaging in a mass crusade to catch on his own citizens.

CONCLUSION

Hidden wars that represent the underbelly of world politics frequently make captions all over
the globe, with fairly little wisdom offered on how all of it fits into the larger picture of
international affairs. Our liberal (neo-liberal to some) world order has tremendous difficulty
coordinating the idea of spying, which might go some way to explaining the popular
seductiveness with it. For ultramodern societies, spycraft and espionage are a commodity of
mystique rather than the more everyday executive tasks they were considered to be in ancient
Indic accounts.

As the 21st century unfolds, and ideological paradigms remain to be formed, it's important to
consider and reflect upon these Indic selections to 20th-century thinking. The model of Indic
literalism, where security is a duty and not just a right, is formerly being emulated in China,
for illustration, where the defense handed for mass internal surveillance isn't grounded on a
concession between the state’s right to collect information and the existent’s right to privacy.
Rather, it's grounded on the idea that the Chinese government has a duty to cover its citizens
in order to fulfill its obligation to give stable governance. Espionage in ancient India
therefore not only highlights a forgotten tradition of complex espionage and surveillance, but
raises questions about how strategic practices that evolved from the bygone political arrays
are, once again, making a place in modern societies.

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