The ancient diplomat

I was watching an interview recently, where Mr Arnab Goswami was constantly accusing Ms Kiran Bedi of being diplomatic. He made it sound like being diplomatic is somehow a bad thing. Something that one mustn't indulge in.

I'd like to ask Mr Goswami, do you know that Chanakya, the great thinker and was also a great diplomat of ancient India ? He was one of the earliest people who envisaged the united India spanning the entire subcontinent ! The diplomatic enclave in New Delhi is named Chanakyapuri in his honour.

So who was Chanakya ? And why is he remembered so often, even today ?

Chanakya was born in a Bhramin household in c370 BC. When Chanakya was born, he had a full set of teeth, during those days, it was considered a sign that he would become a king or an emperor. But since he was born in a Brahmin family, it was considered inappropriate. Thus, his teeth were broken and it was predicted that he would make another person a king and rule through him.Even as a child, Chanakya had the qualities of a born leader. His knowledge was beyond children of his age. He studied in Takshashila,an ancient centre of learning. Later, he became a professor of economics and political science at the same University. After acquiring vast knowledge in various branches of study he wanted everybody to get benefited. He believed in the broadcasting of knowledge and not in the storage of it. So famous was Chanakya in the vicinity of the university that he had many names. He was called Vishnugupta,Kautilya and Chanakya. The whole nation was bewildered by the cleverness and wit of this seemingly small boy who went on to single handedly unify the country with the sheer power of his character. He lived his life working to his capacity in pursuit of his vision of a happy strong and prosperous India.

The Europian invader Salukes, was readying his army to attach the republics of India and at the same time,the ruler of Patliputra, Mahanand was squeezing the common man of his wealth with an object of enriching his own exchequer. Chanakya was aware of the internal and external threats of the country.He envisioned his country clutched in the chains of slavery and defeated because of internal squabbles and differences. So he decided on the historical day, thus saying,

"Now the time has come to leave the university. The scrupulous rulers of the country must be uprooted and there is a need to strengthen the country politically and economically. My first and foremost duty is to save the country of the foreign invaders and salvage this dangerous proposition."

With these thoughts in mind, he left Taxila University for Patliputra which paved the way for watershed changes in the politics of India and Patliputra. Dhanananda, the ruler of Patliputra was unscrupulous and cruel by nature. He was always busy gathering money without thinking about consequences. He was always dissatisfied with the amount of money he had. Collecting taxes exorbitantly, he was a villain in the public eye.He also insulted Chanakya, and as revenge, Chanakya voved to dethrone him and distroy the Nanda kingdom.

Chanakya began to persuade his disciple Chandragupta of the need to build an empire that could protect Indian territories from foreign invasion.Chanakya had trained and guided Chandragupta and together they planned the destruction of Dhana Nanda. It is noted in the Chandraguptakatha that Chandragupta and Chanakya were initially rebuffed by the Nanda forces. Regardless, in the ensuing war, Chandragupta faced off against Bhadrasala, the commander of Dhana Nanda's armies. He was eventually able to defeat Bhadrasala and Dhana Nanda in a series of battles, culminating in the siege of the capital city Pataliputra and the conquest of the Nanda Empire around 321 BCE,thus founding the powerful Maurya Empire in Northern India by the time he was about 20 years old.

Chadragupta Maurya, along with Chanakya, rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great's Hellenic armies. By 316 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander.Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army, gaining additional territory west of the Indus River.

The Maurya Empire was one of the world's largest empires in its time, and the largest ever in the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, to the east into Assam, to the west into Balochistan (south west Pakistan and south east Iran) and the Hindu Kush mountains of what is now Afghanistan.[5] The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka.

Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge.As Chanakya was the chief advisor to Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara, a large part of the success is credit to him.

Chanakya authored two books - Arthasashtra and Chanakya Neeti. The Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy, written in Sanskrit.The text was influential until the 12th century, when it disappeared. It was rediscovered in 1904. The Arthashastra sets out, with dispassionate clarity, a vision of how to establish and guard a state while neutralizing, subverting, and (when opportune conditions have been established) conquering its neighbors. The Arthashastra encompasses a world of practical statecraft, not philosophical disputation. For Kautilya, power was the dominant reality. It was multidimensional, and its factors were interdependent. All elements in a given situation were relevant, calculable, and amenable to manipulation toward a leader’s strategic aims. Geography, finance, military strength, diplomacy, espionage,law, agriculture, cultural traditions, morale and popular opinion, rumors and legends, and men’s vices and weaknesses needed to be shaped as a unit by a wise king to strengthen and expand his realm.

In October 2012, about two thousand years after its composition, India's National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon praised Arthashastra for its clear and precise rules which apply even today. Furthermore, he recommended reading of the book for broadening the vision on strategic issues.This is the wisdom of the ancient Indians !