2. General Information
Born around 350 BC and died around 283 BC
Name at birth was Vishnugupta but was later
known as Chānakya and Kautilya
Born in Patliputra, Maghadh which is currently
Patna, Bihar in India
Teacher of political science at Taxila
University
Later became Prime Minister of Emperor
Chandragupta Maurya
3. Childhood and Education
Vishnugupta was born to Rishi Chanak in
Patliputra who was a revolutionary against
the evil emperor of Magadh. Chanak was
exiled after publicly speaking out against the
king. Vishnugupta left soon after to study at
the famous Taxila University.
Taxila was the best University of the time and
offered education in many different fields.
4. Life in Taxila
After completing his education, Vishnugupta
became a professor at the Taxila University.
Here he got the names Chanakya and
Kautilya due to his fame and wits.
Gandhar Republic attacked Taxila because
the dim-witted prince of Taxila sent soldiers
to the border to abuse and torture the people
living there.
Taxila was defeated in no time but Porus, the
king of Gandhar, demanded that Gandharians
not be attacked again and left without taking
or destroying anything.
5. Alexander the Great
Before Taxila could recover from being defeated, thousands of
refugees came into Taxila saying that there was a white
invader by the name of Alexshendra who was planning on
attacking India.
The dim-witted prince of Taxila became friends with Alexander
when he arrived and gave him soldiers and money to support
his planned conquests.
When Chanakya heard about his he immediately turned the
school into a war training station and rebeled against the
Greeks.
Chanakya created his own army and an impressive system of
spies to destroy the Greeks. Alexander conquered many
kingdoms before he left India. While traveling back to Greece,
he died. The general he had left in India was killed by a spy
acting as a messenger. The Greek rule in India collapsed and
Bharat (India) was free again.
6. Chandragupta
After defeating the Greeks Chanakya returned to his
homeland, Patliputra. One day, while walking on the
road he stepped on some thorns. He controlled his
anger, bent down and destroyed every one of the
thorns.
The prime minister who had recently been insulted by
the tyrannical Dhananand (the king) saw this event
and thought that such a determined man could help
him get his revenge. He then took Chanakya to the
king’s court. The king laughed and made fun of him.
Chanakya swore to destroy the king and his sons for
that insult.
The prime minister recommended that Dhananand’s
eldest son Chandragupta would be fit to rule. His
father and eight brothers had repeatedly tried to kill
him because his mother was of low-caste and he was
extremely strong and intelligent.
7. Defeat of Magadh
Chanakya went around telling peasants and
common folk that Magadh needed to be in
stronger hands and not under the rule of the
tyrannous Dhanananda.
Chandragupta gathered a huge militia in this
way. While he was doing this, Chanakya
persuaded a greedy King called Parvatak to
help because Chanakya assured him half of
Magadh.
Chandragupta’s army attacked and defeated
the army of Magadh with Chanakya’s guidance.
9. Special Gifts and Abilities
Chanakya was amazing at guessing his enemy’s
every move and never once did he fail to predict
his enemy’s doings. He was also very good at
persuasion. (defeating Rakshas)
Chanakya was very good at spy work and
managing spy-systems and conducting
unexpected attacks on his enemies (defeat of the
Greeks)
Chanakya was a great political philosopher who
wrote the Arthashastra and Nitishastra. He has
been called the Indian Machiavelli for his works.
11. Uniting India
Chanakya was the person who thought of the plans
to defeat Alexander out of India. To accomplish
this, he united different kingdoms to fight against
the Greeks which was a very rare occurrence.
He also thought of the plans to take over his
homeland, Magadh, from the tyrannical rule of the
Nand Dynasty and handed it over to his main
apprentice, Chandragupta Maurya. Under
Chanakya’s guidance, Chandragupta created a
huge empire unititig most of India by using
Magadh’s enormous military force and wealth. This
later became the great Ashokan Empire and for the
first time in it’s history, India was a united nation.
12. Major Works by Chanakya
The Arthashastra is a treatise on
statecraft, economic policy and military
strategy written by Chanakya. It is
divided into 15 books and is basically a
king’s “manual” on how to run a kingdom.
The Nitishastra is a book about political
ethics taken from various Shastras and
compiled by Chanakya and is also useful
when running a government.
13. Impact
In India, Chanakya is held as a intelligent scholar
who rid India of the Greeks and killed the bad and
tyrannous kings of the time and gave way to the
Ashokan Empire. His books are also very esteemed
and have helped many people operate businesses
and even governments.
In the west, however, scholars view him as a
malicious but genius Brahmin who ruthlessly
slaughtered and overthrew kings to put himself in
power. This of course is not true but is the cause of
misinformation from the British.
In his time he became very famous and liked after
defeating the Greeks but after defeating Magadh,
many commoners and nobles loyal to the Nand
Dynasty wanted revenge.
14. If Chanakya was still alive…
If Chanakya was still alive I wouldn’t be
surprised if the entire earth would be a
super country with its government in
India.
I also think that there would be very less
wars and only “ideal” rulers according to
the Arthashastra would be allowed in
office.
