King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India

Abstract

This book presents an English translation of Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra (AŚ) along with detailed endnotes. When it was discovered around 1905, the AŚ was described as perhaps the most precious work in the whole range of Sanskrit literature, an assessment that still rings true. This translation of this significant text takes into account a number of important advances in our knowledge of the texts, inscriptions, and archeological and art historical remains from the period in Indian history to which the AŚ belongs. The AŚ is what we would today call a scientific treatise. It codifies a body of knowledge handed down in expert traditions and is specifically interested in two things: first, how a king can expand his territory, keep enemies at bay, enhance his external power, and amass riches; second, how a king can best organize his state bureaucracy to consolidate his internal power, to suppress internal enemies, to expand the economy, to enhance his treasury through taxes, duties, and entrepreneurial activities, to keep law and order, and to settle disputes among his subjects.

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