Chanakya (350-275 BCE) is also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta. He was the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BCE) the founder of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BCE). He was an ancient Indian teacher, philosopher, administrator, economist, jurist and royal advisor who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the ‘Arthashastra’ a text dated to roughly between the 4th century BCE and the 3rd century CE. He is also considered as the pioneer of the field of political science, public administration and classical economics in India. Considering the contemporary challenges faced by the rulers of those times, he defined the policies on law, prisons, taxation, fortification, coinage, manufacturing, trade, administration and spies.
He was a Vedic scholar from the University of Taxila (modern PoK) who was taken to the court of Dhanananda by Shaktar, the minister in the royal court and seeking revenge from the king. In the court, Chanakya was insulted at an alms-giving ceremony and, after this event, he devoted himself to depose the king. Eventually, Chanakya helped Chandragupta Maurya to form a small army, and entered Pataliputra, the capital of the Magadha kingdom and ignited a civil war there. Leveraging his well-built intelligence network. Chandragupta eventually won over the throne in 322 BC, thus ending the Nanda dynasty and laid the foundation of his Maurya dynasty. This dynasty did rule until 185 BC.
