Arthashastra

5 Marks
Chanakya was the one who wrote Arthashastra he wrote about methods for screening
ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, the nature of peace, and the duties and obligations of a king
in the text, and Kautilya fully described the duties of a ruler. According to him, a ruler should not
keep the applicants waiting at his doorstep.
Arthashastra, (Sanskrit: “The Science of Material Gain”) also spelled Arthashastra,
singularly important Indian manual on the art of politics, attributed to Kautilya (also known as
Chanakya), who reportedly was chief minister to the emperor Chandragupta (c. 300 BCE), the
founder of the Mauryan dynasty.
The Arthashastra gave in-depth examinations on matters such as history, economics,
politics, and management, among many other subjects. It has often been cited as an important
source for understanding Mauryan times.
It includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal court systems, ethics,
economics, markets and trade, the methods for screening ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, the
nature of peace, and the duties and obligations of a king.