Evolution of Kautilya’s Arthasastra: An Inscriptional Approach

The Arthasastra of Kautilya has been the subject of several monographs. The present study is, however, the first attempt to determine its various strata through the identification and analysis of about four hundred Arthasastra terms relating to administration, finance, justice and warfare occuring in inscriptions from the third century B.C. to the twelfth century A.D. The author has identified four time-brackets on the basis of the distribution of the maximum number of Arthasastra terms–the Mauryan period when the kernel came into existence, second century A.D., fifth-sixth centuries A.D., and tenth and twelfth centuries A.D.; the intervening periods being either insignificant or repetitive in nature. Evidently the original text underwent three editions with a view to updating it which confirms its heterogeneous character and plurality of authorship, though the material which went into disuse remains unexplored.