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Arthashastra: The Science of Wealth
This book is a definitive introduction to the classic text, the Arthashastra, the world s first manual on political economy. The 2000-year-old treatise is ascribed to Kautilya, the prime minister of King Chandragupta Maurya, and is as important to Indian thought as Machiavelli s The Prince is to Europe. Arthashastra, or the science of wealth , is a study of economic enterprise, and advises the king entrepreneur on how to create prosperity. Thomas Trautmann s exploration of this seminal work illuminates its underlying economic philosophy and provides invaluable lessons for the modern age.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 21, 2025
The Political Economy.
Notes
Kautilya vs Durkheim on supremacy of republics (mechanical solidarity - homogeneous society) over organic solidarity of more complex societies (division of labor, interdependent groups).
In preparation for the ultimate catastrophe (escaping assassination), the king must bury treasure in the border lands by people condemned to death.
Day divided into 16 90-min blocks. 3 blocks of sleep. 1. wake and study 2. dispatch secret agents 3. priests, physician, cook 4. military updates 5. city affairs 6. bath, meal, study 7. economy 8. information from spies 9. recreation 10. review 4 limbs of army 11. military plans - break for twilight worship. 12. debrief agents 13. bath, meal, study 14-16 sleep.
Granary gets its own overseer - koshtagara adhyaksha. One half of king's granary set aside for times of distress. Stock is cycled.
Rome paid for Indian pearls with amber, copper, lead, coral, and coinage - which matches Arthashastra’s description of coinage thus dating it during Indo-Roman trade period.
Pottery mentioned trivially, taken for granted, not as luxury, unlike in China/Japan and in pre-metal Indus. Textiles, on the contrary, prominently mentioned both as staples and luxuries, and king’s obligation to support widows/orphans by employment in spinning.
3 grades of horses - best from Indus, Punjab, Arabia; middle from Bactria, and others are inferior. Horses thrive in Indus and interior peninsula’s arid grasslands, vs Elephants in the forest.
Elephants can only be used for human purposes after age 20, so not domesticated at birth (expensive to raise) but captured as adults. Quality of elephants declines from East (orissa) to west (punjab).
Seleucids and Ptolemies (at war) both seek elephants from Mauryas, including the skilled elephant-handlers. Indios means elephant-driver. Carthaginians use their technique to tame African elephants, taking them across alps to Rome. Indian model of kingship in S.E.Asia brings war-elephants there.
Farming villages as root of king’s wealth - visavis merchant whose profits are from luxury trade with distant lands). King turns empty land into wealth-producer and takes a share - needs to attract farmers from foreign lands or overpopulated regions of his kingdom (contrast with modern migration). King’s own farmland (sita) under the overseer of royal farmland sita adhyaksha, an expert in farming, water, etc. Farms are settled first, in villages of 1-500 families.
Next important economic zone is pasture, designated only after all arable land is set aside. Overseer of pastures vivita adhyaksha establishes pastures between villages. Clears lowlands and forests of danger (robbers, animals), sinks wells. Network of fowlers, hunters help him report on movement of enemies. Livestock is horse, buffalo, cow, donkey, camel, goat, sheep, pig. Herds owned by king are given on 2 terms - tended for wages (give all produce to king) or paid a share.
Treasury has its source in mines. Akara-adhyaksha is an expert in metallurgy, smelting etc, managing both the mining and the workshops that manufacture goods. Overseer of mint, lakshana adhyaksha for minting of coins which are monopoly og the king. Salt is also a monopoly.
3 royal forests, mriga (wild animals), dravya (raw materials), and gaja (elephant), single entry surrounded by a moat. Elephant-keepers, masked with elephant urine/dung, with a decoy convoy of female elephants patrol and record details of every single elephant in the forest.
Aristotle contrasts Greek freedom (private property, land) vs Persians (king owns all the land, everyone is a tenant): concept of Oriental Despotism that was applied by British first to Mughals and then to all Indian rulers in general.
Arthashastra aims for a ‘just price’ not a market price by free interaction of supply-demand. King levies tax on this transaction, and also confiscates the excess price if bidding among buyers pushes it up - suppresses fluctuation. Buyers are not all equal, kin have priority.
Long distance traders arrive at city-gate, sell to local-traders who are then allowed to sell retail. Custom duties levied at the city-gate. If trader under-prices to reduce duty or over-prices to gouge, king confiscates the difference. Overseer of trade Panya adhyaksha expert in prices and value.
In contrast to now, import is encouraged and export is controlled to allow only that which is in abundant supply internally - prioritizing availability over trade balance. Overseer of trade protects trade routes, foreign traders.
2 kinds of law - 1. Vyavahara (law of transactions) contractual disputes by 3 judges (dharmastha) of minister-rank available at frontier post, HQ of 10 villages, HQ of 400 villages, capital city. Civil wrongs, torts, where it comes to the judge when brought by a complainant. 2. Criminal law, called Removal of Thorns, where king sets the process in motion, wrongs against kingdom at large, 3 magistrates of minster-rank.
Notes
Kautilya vs Durkheim on supremacy of republics (mechanical solidarity - homogeneous society) over organic solidarity of more complex societies (division of labor, interdependent groups).
In preparation for the ultimate catastrophe (escaping assassination), the king must bury treasure in the border lands by people condemned to death.
Day divided into 16 90-min blocks. 3 blocks of sleep. 1. wake and study 2. dispatch secret agents 3. priests, physician, cook 4. military updates 5. city affairs 6. bath, meal, study 7. economy 8. information from spies 9. recreation 10. review 4 limbs of army 11. military plans - break for twilight worship. 12. debrief agents 13. bath, meal, study 14-16 sleep.
Granary gets its own overseer - koshtagara adhyaksha. One half of king's granary set aside for times of distress. Stock is cycled.
Rome paid for Indian pearls with amber, copper, lead, coral, and coinage - which matches Arthashastra’s description of coinage thus dating it during Indo-Roman trade period.
Pottery mentioned trivially, taken for granted, not as luxury, unlike in China/Japan and in pre-metal Indus. Textiles, on the contrary, prominently mentioned both as staples and luxuries, and king’s obligation to support widows/orphans by employment in spinning.
3 grades of horses - best from Indus, Punjab, Arabia; middle from Bactria, and others are inferior. Horses thrive in Indus and interior peninsula’s arid grasslands, vs Elephants in the forest.
Elephants can only be used for human purposes after age 20, so not domesticated at birth (expensive to raise) but captured as adults. Quality of elephants declines from East (orissa) to west (punjab).
Seleucids and Ptolemies (at war) both seek elephants from Mauryas, including the skilled elephant-handlers. Indios means elephant-driver. Carthaginians use their technique to tame African elephants, taking them across alps to Rome. Indian model of kingship in S.E.Asia brings war-elephants there.
Farming villages as root of king’s wealth - visavis merchant whose profits are from luxury trade with distant lands). King turns empty land into wealth-producer and takes a share - needs to attract farmers from foreign lands or overpopulated regions of his kingdom (contrast with modern migration). King’s own farmland (sita) under the overseer of royal farmland sita adhyaksha, an expert in farming, water, etc. Farms are settled first, in villages of 1-500 families.
Next important economic zone is pasture, designated only after all arable land is set aside. Overseer of pastures vivita adhyaksha establishes pastures between villages. Clears lowlands and forests of danger (robbers, animals), sinks wells. Network of fowlers, hunters help him report on movement of enemies. Livestock is horse, buffalo, cow, donkey, camel, goat, sheep, pig. Herds owned by king are given on 2 terms - tended for wages (give all produce to king) or paid a share.
Treasury has its source in mines. Akara-adhyaksha is an expert in metallurgy, smelting etc, managing both the mining and the workshops that manufacture goods. Overseer of mint, lakshana adhyaksha for minting of coins which are monopoly og the king. Salt is also a monopoly.
3 royal forests, mriga (wild animals), dravya (raw materials), and gaja (elephant), single entry surrounded by a moat. Elephant-keepers, masked with elephant urine/dung, with a decoy convoy of female elephants patrol and record details of every single elephant in the forest.
Aristotle contrasts Greek freedom (private property, land) vs Persians (king owns all the land, everyone is a tenant): concept of Oriental Despotism that was applied by British first to Mughals and then to all Indian rulers in general.
Arthashastra aims for a ‘just price’ not a market price by free interaction of supply-demand. King levies tax on this transaction, and also confiscates the excess price if bidding among buyers pushes it up - suppresses fluctuation. Buyers are not all equal, kin have priority.
Long distance traders arrive at city-gate, sell to local-traders who are then allowed to sell retail. Custom duties levied at the city-gate. If trader under-prices to reduce duty or over-prices to gouge, king confiscates the difference. Overseer of trade Panya adhyaksha expert in prices and value.
In contrast to now, import is encouraged and export is controlled to allow only that which is in abundant supply internally - prioritizing availability over trade balance. Overseer of trade protects trade routes, foreign traders.
2 kinds of law - 1. Vyavahara (law of transactions) contractual disputes by 3 judges (dharmastha) of minister-rank available at frontier post, HQ of 10 villages, HQ of 400 villages, capital city. Civil wrongs, torts, where it comes to the judge when brought by a complainant. 2. Criminal law, called Removal of Thorns, where king sets the process in motion, wrongs against kingdom at large, 3 magistrates of minster-rank.
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June 12, 2024Three objectives of Hinduism are, in order: Dharma (justice/piety/morality), Artha (Wealth), Kama (Passion). The Kamasutra is well-known; it is lesser known that Dharma and Artha are to be taken care of first. This text, dated approximately 300 BC, is a sort of instruction text for a king, how to organize their economy and ensure proper government oversight. This reveals the time's conception around market prices (goods have a true price, shocks in demand and supply steer away from this price and should be corrected) and trade (in large part arranged between kings).
June 1, 2020
A very high level overview of the Arthashastra. Good for getting to know what the book is all about and how it applied to Ancient India and how it probably does not apply to modern India (Kingship vs Democracy). A starting point if you want to study Arthashastra.
December 1, 2022
A nice summary and new insight into one of the richest book of Ancient India.
December 12, 2017
The book is an introduction to the famous treatise Arthashastra by Kautilya by professor emeritus in History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan - Thomas R. Trautmann.
The author has examined the book from several perspectives like Kingship vs Republic, Dharma vs Artha, etc. He clearly states that Dharma is superior to Artha but economy and politics are closely intertwined and at the time Arthashastra was written both were considered to be one. Arthashastra has been written with this philosophy of optimising economy and politics.
The book is divided into 4 sections namely Kingdoms, Goods, Workshops and Markets apart from the introduction and conclusion. The author opines that though more stable in ancient days the days of kingship are over because of the heterogenity of people resulting in functional solidarity rather than mechanical solidarity of kingship days as conceptualised by Durkheim. He discusses the life of the king, his schedule, his threats, the goods and stores and their keepers, farms and land tenure system, taxation of trades, luxury trade with Rome and China, rule of Law (Removal of Thorns), regulation by the state, etc. and has beautifully expostulated on the original text's idea on these matters of practical detail.
He concludes by dwelling on how the American and the French Revolution changed the paradigm and how the system of popular sovereignty marked the closure of kingships. He winds up by saying that Arthashastra should not be read for advice but for seeing things in a broader field of vision.
The author has examined the book from several perspectives like Kingship vs Republic, Dharma vs Artha, etc. He clearly states that Dharma is superior to Artha but economy and politics are closely intertwined and at the time Arthashastra was written both were considered to be one. Arthashastra has been written with this philosophy of optimising economy and politics.
The book is divided into 4 sections namely Kingdoms, Goods, Workshops and Markets apart from the introduction and conclusion. The author opines that though more stable in ancient days the days of kingship are over because of the heterogenity of people resulting in functional solidarity rather than mechanical solidarity of kingship days as conceptualised by Durkheim. He discusses the life of the king, his schedule, his threats, the goods and stores and their keepers, farms and land tenure system, taxation of trades, luxury trade with Rome and China, rule of Law (Removal of Thorns), regulation by the state, etc. and has beautifully expostulated on the original text's idea on these matters of practical detail.
He concludes by dwelling on how the American and the French Revolution changed the paradigm and how the system of popular sovereignty marked the closure of kingships. He winds up by saying that Arthashastra should not be read for advice but for seeing things in a broader field of vision.
July 17, 2015
Rare and fascinating, this broad interpretation of the political economy of ancient India was a revelation - I had no idea such documents existed and I'm grateful for Trautmann and the translators of the Arthashastra for making it available to me. Trautmann errs somewhat on the positive economics occassionally, but not enough to mar the challenge of this immense work by an anonymous, practical, ancient, sub-continental Machiavelli-cum-Smith.
April 9, 2012
I bought this book just because of Gurucharan Das's name. I had read his earlier book "Difficulty of being good" and thoroughly enjoyed it. The disappointment for me is one my expectation and two is lack of arguments,logical relationship to the present scenario. Nothing was mentioned about " The secrete science of creating wealth".
October 19, 2016
The book "Arthashastra" written by Trautmann speaks on the balance between politics and business they had during maurya's time. The book speaks pros and cons of mudiyarasu (authoritarian) and kudiyarasu (power distributed) and how they managed to keep foods in stock to tackle during drought time. Great book.
February 2, 2013
Understand the difference monarchy and democracy: http://www.anureviews.com/arthashastr...
July 13, 2013
Did not live up to expectations.
August 18, 2015
A good introsuction and discussion of the Arthashastra and its place in history.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews