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Mauryan ringstone, Northwest Pakistan, 3rd century BCE. (British Museum, London)
Arthashastra, Duties of a King
(c. fourth century B.C.)
Arthashastra, Duties of a King
(c. fourth century B.C.)
BACKGROUND: The Arthashastra (roughly, “science of politics”) has often been attributed to Chānaka (c.350-283 B.C.), a prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya during the early phases of the Mauryan Empire. The text is very broad-ranging, covering issues ranging from war making to law enforcement, the conservation of forests, economic policy, the use of spies, and the education of future leaders. The excerpt below is one of the few references to religion from the text.
BOOK XII, "CONCERNING A POWERFUL ENEMY,"
CHAPTER II. THE BATTLE OF INTRIGUE
A spy, under the guise of a merchant, may, under the plea of winning the love of an immediate maid-servant of the beautiful queen (of the enemy), shower wealth upon her and then give her up. A spy in the service of the merchant may give to another spy, employed as a servant of the maid-servant, some medical drug, telling the latter that (in order to regain the love of the merchant), the drug may be applied to the person of the merchant (by the maid-servant). On her attaining success (the maid-servant) may inform the queen that the same drug may be applied to the person of the king (to secure his love), and then change the drug for poison.
A spy, under the guise of an astrologer, may gradually delude the enemy's prime minister with the belief that he is possessed of all the...characteristics of a king; a mendicant woman may tell the minister's wife that she has the characteristics of a queen and that she will bring forth a prince...
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