Who was Chanakya ?

According to the Kashmiri version, 3 disciples of a sage arrive for gurudakshina at Dhanananda's doorstep only to find out that he's dead. One of them takes form in Dhanananda's body and grants the other disciple a huge donation. Shakatala, the minister, realised it but he was locked up, along with his 100 sons. All his kids die of starvation since food for only man was served everyday.

The fame of Kautilya is owed to the important role he played in the fall of the Magadha kingdom and the rise to power of the Mauryan dynasty.

Shakatala meets Chanakya after being released. He promises him that the king would give Chanakya 1000 gold coins. However, when they reach the court, he arranges for someone else to get it. Shakatala convinces an angry Chanakya that it was the king's fault and asks him to use magic to kill the king. He agrees and and the fake Dhanananda died in 7 days.

This, the Mudrarakshasa version, is the least likely version of the truth. In this version, Chanakya is removed from a seat at the kingdom and he plans to take revenge by forming alliances with many armies. With Chandragupta by his side he conquered Pataliputra.

In order to accomplish this, he became an ally and loyal servant of Chandragupta, a noble member of the Kshatriya caste (the warrior rulers caste) who was related to the Nanda family, but he was an exile.

None of these theories are proven. But they have been written about. Regardless, they make for a fascinating read.

Before he became Chandragupta’s ally, Kautilya was introduced to the Nanda king, who insulted him. Kautilya untied his sikha (lock of hair on male Hindus), and swore he would only tie it back once the Nanda dynasty was destroyed.

Kautilya and Chandragupta raised a small army that lacked sufficient military strength to take the Magadha throne directly.

Therefore, Kautilya’s cunning strategies became useful: Chandragupta entered the capital of the Magadha kingdom, Pataliputra, where he triggered a civil war using Kautilya Chanakya’s intelligence network.

In 322 BCE Chandragupta finally seized the throne putting an end to the Nanda dynasty and he established the Mauryan dynasty which would rule India until 185 BCE

After this victory, Chandragupta fought and defeated the generals of Alexander the Great located in Gandhara, present day Afghanistan.

Following these successful campaigns, Chandragupta was seen as a brave leader who defeated part of the Greek invaders and ended the corrupt Nanda government and thus gained wide public support.

There are a number of accounts concerning Kautilya which describe him as both intelligent and ruthless.

One of these accounts tells us that once the last Nanda was defeated and the imperial palace was occupied by the new Mauryan dynasty, Kautilya noticed a group of ants carrying grain out of a crack in the palace floor.

After examining the crack he discovered hordes of Nanda soldiers in a basement below, ready for a surprise attack. Emotionless, Kautilya emptied the building leaving the Nanda soldiers locked up, and burnt the palace to the ground.

It is also said that when the Nanda king was killed, Kautilya personally went to see the body and, just before tying up his hair, he ordered the body to remain uncremated, to discard it and turn it into carrion.

This was a truly barbaric end and contrary to Indian tradition for any deceased and the highest insult for a man’s immortal soul.

Kautilya helped Chandragupta to turn the Mauryan Empire into one of the most powerful governments at that time.

Pataliputra remained as the imperial capital and the initial territory controlled by Chandragupta extended all across Northern India from the Indus river in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the East.

Later on in 305 BCE, the Mauryan Empire gained control of the Punjab, what today is part of Northern India and Eastern Pakistan, an area that had been controlled by the Macedonians.

The political thoughts of Kautilya are summarized in a book he wrote known as the Arthashastra, a Sanskrit name which is translated as “The Science of Material Gain”.

This book was lost for many centuries and a copy of it written on palm leaves was rediscovered in India in 1904 CE.

The Arthashastra is a handbook for running an empire effectively and it contains detailed information about specific topics.

Diplomacy and war are the two points treated in greater detail than any other and it also includes recommendations on law, prisons, taxation, fortifications, coinage, manufacturing, trade, administrations, and spies.

The ideas expressed by Kautilya in the Arthashastra are totally practical and unsentimental. Kautliya openly writes about controversial topics such as assassinations, when to kill family members, how to manage secret agents, when it is useful to violate treaties and when to spy on ministers.