RIFLE RANGE BOY: Kautilya

Chanakya
Amar Chitra Katha Classics

Thanks, Aman, for the suggestion.

Forget the 16th century Niccolo Machiavelli and his devious Machiavellian tactics in 'The Prince' to usurp power and defeat your enemies. Forget Adam Smith as the 18th century Father of modern economics and his treatise 'Wealth of Nation.

Before the modern world knew about science, politics and economics, Indian civilisation had already delved deep into the above subject. Chanakya, who lived around the 300CE, was a master political advisor exemplaire. A Brahmana, a scholar knowledgable of various sciences, is said to have been instrumental in masterminding Chandragupta to establish the Maurya Empire.

It was about 2,500 years ago when Alexander (questionable whether he was Great) from Macedonia was creating a ruckus in Northern India. Maghada was the largest kingdom in India then. Hence, most people thought that it was natural for its ruler to chase away foreign aggressors from their land.

It started with a minister in the Maghada kingdom, Shakhtar, getting insulted by the ruler. The minister deviously got Chanakya to get an audience with King Nanda, the Maghada monarch. In a stuprous state, the drunken king ridiculed scholar Chanakya.

An incensed Chanakya vowed to strip the King and his sons of their powers. Shakhtar and Chanakya sneaked a cunning plan to instigate Nanda's eldest son, the most intelligent and the strongest of his sons, Chandragupta, to snatch the rein of power. They also induced a pact of convenience with a greedy king Parvathak for his army.

Nanda was defeated and poisoned by Chanakya's spies. Forget 'House of Cards', Chanakya was a master planner. He engineered who should be in and who should be out in Chandragupta's newly established reign. Royal hidden manoeuvres, quick sleigh hand tactics, backstabbing and attempted poisoning of Chandragupta, all were nipped in the bud by the maverick Chanakya in the course of his illustrious career in the courtyard.

Chandragupta Maurya

It is said after organising a solid army, Chandragupta went on to build an Empire. Even this story in Amar Chitra Katha simplifies and perhaps, romanticises Chandragupta to have warded off Alexander away from India, the timeline is a bit off. History tells us that King Porus is credited for defeating Alexander. But the Macedonians fought many wars over the Indian frontier. In one such clash with the Nanda Empire (remember the early part of the story!) and Gangaridai, Alexander's army mutinied because the raving elephant army was too intimidating. Their morale declined, and the military had to retreat.

That event essentially marked the end of the Alexander warrior days. He died on the way back, the cause of which remains speculative. It ranged from malaria to depression after the demise of his male companion to poisoning.

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, authored 'Kautilya Arthsashtra' in the 3rd century BCE. He is a pioneer in the fields of political sciences and economics. His work is the basis of classical economics.