Who Was Kautilya?

   

Kautilya 

According to Bandyopadhyaya after the heroes of the Epics and the Puranas, Indians are not so much familiar with any other names as with that of Kautilya. Beginners of study (in the subject) throughout India are taught about the policies associated with his name. Kautilya was also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta. The writer of Arthashastra has called himself Kautilya' worshipper of cunning Ganpati Sastry has called him 'Kautalya', which means a descendant of Kutala gotra.' Another view about his name is that 'Kutala' (Kothila in Oudhi) means a pot full of grain; the Brahmanas, who lived throughout the year on grain stored in that pot were called 'Kutala', and probably Kautilya's ancestors followed that profession, so he was called Kautilya. Finally, having been born in the Chanaka' gotra, he was called Chanakya. 

Social Conditions in Kautilya's Time 

Alexander invaded India in the 4th century B.C. It was the time of Magadha empire. The empire was established by Nanda dynasty and at that time a king named Mahananda used to rule. In his kingdom the political and social conditions were extremely bad. The people were badly oppressed and prayed for relief from despotism of the king. Kautilya was a simple man. He did not ignite revolution against Nanda dynasty merely because of personal affront. The real reason behind this was his sense of patriotism and deep insight. Alexander's invasion was stoutly opposed everywhere: still Alexander kept his advance. 
            Chandra Gupta was a small officer in the army of Nanda, but the spirit of extreme valour, fortitude and patriotism had percolated to every fibré of his person. Several times Nanda was angered by his activities and tried to get him killed, but did not succeed. Chanakya sent an invitation to Chandragupta through his disciple and enquired of Chandragupta as to what did he think was the reason behind Alexander's military advance. Impressed by the self- confidence of Chandragupta, Chanakya decided that he will help in making Chandragupta the new king. But before taking this step he visited the court of Raja Nanda and warned him that if Magadha failed to check the advance of Alexandra the whole country will be in peril. In return Chanakya was insulted and abused. Now Chanakya and Chandragupta started the process of merging the small kingdoms and uniting them as Chanakya concluded that the division of country into small kingdoms was the main cause of country's weakening. India needed to be united and become a single empire. They succeeded to a large extend in this. By the time Alexandra returned from India the bulk of his army had been destroyed and he himself died in Babylonia. Later on Chanakya and Chandragupta hatched a conspiracy against Raja Nanda. The besiege of Kusumpur by Chandra Gupta resulted in the fall of Nanda dynasty and the establishment of Mauryan Empire. 
            The appreciation and praise of Chanakya is to be found in the entire range of Indian literature. Praising Chanakya in his Niti Sara, Acharya Kamandaka writes, "I heartily salute the great scholar Vishnugupta uho uprooted the rock like solid empire of Nanda Dynasty, who erowned Chandra Gupta and who composed the great book Arthashastra."