Ancient Indian Economic Thoughts with reference to Chanakya’s Arthashastra.

Dr. Ritesh Kumar Singhal,

Designation: Professor & Head, Department of Economics,

Ismail Yusuf College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Mumbai.

Email: singhalriteshkumar@yahoo.com

Abstract : India is one of those countries whose ancient civilisations have survived the test of time. Many civilisations were lost and replaced by new ones. But the Indian civilisation continues to thrive and functions within the ambit of Dharma i.e. righteousness. The study of ancient Vedas has brought great spiritual wealth for the country. Chanakya (375–283 BCE), the legendary counsellor of King Chandragupta Maurya was instrumental in establishing a strong kingdom in India which gave strong resistance to foreign attackers. The Sanskrit title, Arthashastra, is a treatise on political science or economic science or simply statecraft as the word artha word has a broad scope. This paper has tried to study this great written work by Chanakya and has tried to understand that how even today the book is relevant and has stood the test of time and is referred to as the masterpiece of work. This book can be called as the one of the first orderly work neatly written for the duty of a king for the welfare of his kingdom. This paper analyses those aspects and its relevance today.

Keywords: Arthashastra, Dharma, Duty, Tax.