Chanakya
4th-century BCE Indian statesman and philosopher · Politicians · Lived 375 BC to 283 BC · aged 92
Chanakya is read about 786 times a day, in 124 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A Brahmin adviser who, according to legend, engineered the rise of India's first empire - and whose name became attached to one of antiquity's coldest treatises on power.
Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
Chanakya artistic depiction
Chankay Play Manoj Joshi
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Rediscovered circa 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script from the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) which was found in 1905 01_which_was_found_in_1905_02.jpg?width=1200)
Rediscovered circa 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script from the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) which was found in 1905 02_which_was_found_in_1905_03.jpg?width=1200)
Rediscovered circa 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script from the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) which was found in 1905 03_which_was_found_in_1905_04.jpg?width=1200)
Rediscovered circa 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script from the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) which was found in 1905 04_which_was_found_in_1905_05.jpg?width=1200)
Rediscovered circa 16th century Arthashastra manuscript in Grantha script from the Oriental Research Institute (ORI) which was found in 1905 05In their own words 10
, Whoever imposes severe punishment becomes repulsive to the people; while he who awards mild punishment becomes contemptible.
If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works.
All urgent calls he shall hear at once, but never put off; for when postponed, they will prove too hard or impossible to accomplish.
About this person
The legends, preserved in texts written between the 4th and 11th centuries CE, say Chanakya guided Chandragupta Maurya from obscurity to the throne and served as chief minister under both him and his son Bindusara. For centuries he was thought to be Kauṭilya, author of the Arthashastra - the ancient manual on statecraft and economics that reads like a predecessor to Machiavelli. Scholars now believe the Arthashastra was composed by multiple authors several centuries after the Mauryan period, and that linking it to Chanakya was a move to lend the work authority. Whether he wrote it or not, his name stuck: in India, "Chanakya" still means the strategist behind the throne.
Politicians born in the 380s BC 6
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