Chanakya: the pioneer economist of the world

Abstract

IntroductionKautilya's Arthasastra (Kautilya's economics) was written in sutra (prose poem) style. The work claims to date from the period 321-296BC and its archaic style is well in agreement with the claim (Fleet, 1914). Indian epigraphical researches also prove that Kautilya wrote Arthasastra, somewhere between 321 and 300BC (Fleet, 1914). Nitisara was written by Kamadaka around AD 800 and the author of the book acknowledged his indebtedness to Chanakya (Kautilya) (Sharma, 1968). Professor Bhatnagar opined "Kautilya was well known to all sorts and conditions of literates from 200BC down to the fifteenth century AD" (Bhandarkar, 1925 p. 205). Chanakya examined views of his predecessor and set forth his valuable opinion on economic management in ancient India. Indeed, he founded a school, which was paid due homage by Indian scholars, administrators and planners for a long time. During Mughal and a large part of the British rule the importance of this treatise gradually diminished. Scholars of the present century could know the worth of the

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