CHAPTER THREE

Perspectives from Political Science

Kautilya (First–Second Century C.E.)

Kautilya’s Treatise on Politics is a manual on governance and law, a book on political science. In its formal structure, the treatise has three overlapping divisions: 15 books (adhikaraṇa), 150 chapters (adhyāya), and 180 topics (prakaraṇa). The book division and the chapter division appear to be closely linked, the one presupposing the other. Each book is subdivided into chapters. The topic division stands apart from the other two. These multiple divisions correspond to the compositional history of the treatise. The first five books deal with the king and his education, and the internal governance of the state, with the third and fourth books devoted specifically to civil and criminal law. Books six through fourteen are devoted to what may be called foreign affairs. They deal with diplomacy and war, and include one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the elements of an ancient Indian army and the tactics of warfare. The final chapter is an appendix pointing out the features of a perfect scientific treatise, taking Kautilya’s treatise as an exemplar.

Kautilya’s treatise is a composite work, and its compositional history can be divided into three phases.¹ The first consists of the source material Kautilya used, dated to between 50 B.C.E. and 50 C.E. Kautilya’s own composition, which was divided into topics, can be dated to the middle of the first century C.E. The third phase consists of what I have called the “Śāstric Redaction,” which added the chapter division. It was carried out sometime after the middle of the second century C.E.² When Kautilya’s work is used for historical purposes, therefore, we need to pay special attention to these compositional layers separated by several centuries. I have given an analysis of Kautilya’s work and its significance for the epistemology of dharma in the introduction.

1

In that bureau he should have the following entered in the registry books:

concerning departments—the totality of their number, procedures, and income;

concerning factories—the extent of the following: gain and loss of material in the manufacturing process, expenses, additional weight, surcharge, admixture, location, wages, and labor;³

concerning precious stones, articles of high value, articles of low value, and forest produce—price, sample, size, weight, height, depth, and container;⁴

concerning regions, villages, castes, families, and associations—dharmas, conventions, customs, and canons. (2.7.2)

From that bureau he should deliver in writing to all departments the records of their estimated revenue, established revenue, outstanding revenue, income and expenditure, balance, additional revenue, procedures, customs, and canons. (2.7.3)

He should have their procedures, moreover, overseen by spies. For an official may cause a loss of revenue if he is unacquainted with the procedures, customs, and canons through ignorance. (2.7.9–10)

Canons, procedures, setting out the corpus of revenue, receipts, aggregate of all revenues, and grand total—these constitute the estimated revenue. (2.6.14)

If someone does not bring in the daily accounts,⁵ he should wait for one month. After one month, he should pay a fine of 200 Paṇas, increased by 200 Paṇas for each additional month. If a small amount of the recorded balance remains outstanding, he should wait for five days. If he first deposits the amount in the treasury and then brings in the daily accounts after that period, he should investigate the matter by taking into account the dharmas, conventions, customs, and canons; by examining the sum total; by scrutinizing the work carried out; and by inference and the use of informants. (2.7.26–29)

The flourishing of procedures, fostering customs, suppressing thieves, controlling the officials, success of crops, abundance of commodities, providing relief during misfortune, reducing exemptions, and gifts of money—these are the ways to increase the treasury. (2.8.3)

Therefore, he should fix the duty on commodities, both new and old, according to the region, type of commodity, and custom, as also the penalties according to the offense. (2.22.15)

Alternatively, when taking a water route, he should acquire a thorough knowledge of the charges for the boats, the provisions for the journey, the value and quantity of his own commodities and the commodities received in exchange, the suitable times for the voyage, safeguards against dangers, and the customs at ports. On a river route also he should find out the conditions of trade from the customs at ports and go to the location from which a profit can be made, and avoid any loss. (2.16.24–25)

With regard to men and women of the families, furthermore, he should find out⁶ how many are children and old people, what their occupations and customs are, and the amount of their earnings and expenditures. (2.35.5)

2

Whatever custom he may consider to be detrimental to the treasury and army or to be extremely adharmic, he should set it aside and establish a righteous convention. (13.5.14)

He should promote dharmic customs, both those that are not yet established and those that have been established by others. And he should not promote adharmic ones and put an end to those established by others. (13.5.24)

Or else, if he has set out to settle vacant land, he should give only money and not a village, so as to provide stability to conventions pertaining to the total revenue from the villages. (5.3.32)

Alternatively, they⁷ should get them to nullify a settled convention by establishing the contrary. Or, when there are matters under legal dispute, assassins should provoke quarrels by attacking property, animals, and humans at night. (11.1.13)

One and a quarter Paṇas per month on 100 Paṇas is the dharmic rate of interest; five Paṇas, the conventional rate;⁸ ten Paṇas for travelers through wild tracts; and twenty Paṇas for seafarers. For anyone charging or making someone charge more than that, the punishment is the lowest seizure fine,⁹ and half that fine for each of the witnesses individually. When, however, the king is not providing security, he should take into account the customs among lenders and borrowers. (3.11.1–3)

3

Dharma, convention, custom, and royal decree: these are the four feet of the subject of a legal dispute; each succeeding one countermands each preceding one.

Among these, dharma rests on truth, convention on witnesses, and custom on the consensus of people, while royal decree is a king’s command. (3.1.39–40)