What is Arthashastra?

Arthashastra literally means ‘Scripture of Wealth’. Kautilya’s (also identifies as Chanakya) Arthashastra is
a treatise on statecraft and economics specific to the practices of design and development of human
settlements. The city Planning is discussed in the Arthasastra in the great details. The detailed guidelines
for laying out of city was not a utopian idea, the city was planned quite carefully taking into consideration
several factors.

The common features are given below:

 The Arthasastra deals with forts in detail. According to the text a fort should be circular,
rectangular or square in shape. There should be defensive fortification against the enemy. This
could be a water fortification, a mountainous fortification, a desert or a forest fortification. Among
these, water and mountainous fortifications are best to defend populous centers. around the fort
three ditches should be constructed. The intermediate space of the ditches should be fourteen,
twelve and ten dandas each and the depth of the ditch should be one half of the width, it should
be square at the bottom and one third as wide as at the top.
 clear division of town by roads and lanes
 drainage system
 Boundaries of settlements
 The recreational spaces with huge water bodies having harmless animals
and surrounded by plantations
 promoted the principles of Vastushastra pertaining to the form and layout of settlements.
 He mentions a well-defined hierarchy of the urban centers and the administrative divisions. These
divisions were based mainly on the size of population and were influenced by the resources
available in the region and opportunities for economic development.
 the Arthashastra also dictate measures for environmental protection and animal
welfare.