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  3. The History of the Arthasastra
  • Cited by 12
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      June 2019
      July 2019
      ISBN:
      9781108641586
      9781108476904
      9781108701747
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108641586
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.59kg, 306 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.45kg, 308 Pages
      • Subjects:
      History of Ideas, Buddhism and Eastern Religions, History, Religion, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
      Series:
      Ideas in Context (120)
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    Subjects:
    History of Ideas, Buddhism and Eastern Religions, History, Religion, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
    Series:
    Ideas in Context (120)
    Information

    Book description

    The Arthaśāstra is the foundational text of Indic political thought and ancient India's most important treatise on statecraft and governance. It is traditionally believed that politics in ancient India was ruled by religion; that kings strove to fulfil their sacred duty; and that sovereignty was circumscribed by the sacred law of dharma. Mark McClish's systematic and thorough evaluation of the Arthaśāstra's early history shows that these ideas only came to prominence in the statecraft tradition late in the classical period. With a thorough chronological exploration, he demonstrates that the text originally espoused a political philosophy characterized by empiricism and pragmatism, ignoring the mandate of dharma altogether. The political theology of dharma was incorporated when the text was redacted in the late classical period, which obscured the existence of an independent political tradition in ancient India altogether and reinforced the erroneous notion that ancient India was ruled by religion, not politics.

    Reviews

    ‘[A] meticulous analysis of one of the most important texts of the period.’

    Timothy Lubin Source: JAOS

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    Contents

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    Contents

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    References

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