On the Weapons, Army Organisation, and Political Maxims of the Ancient Hindus

Gustav Oppert brings together in this book, for the first time, rare and unpublished material from two of the most important treatises on the subject Nitiprakasika, and Sukraniti. Nitiprakasika has remained utterly unknown and no authentic version of the Sukraniti was available for a long time. The Nitiprakasika is ascribed to Vaisampayana and gives, among other valuable matter, a full ad descriptive account of the Dhanurveda, and contains in fact the only accurate description which we possess of the various arms and war implements of the ancient Hindus. Sukraniti, ascribed to Sukracharyya, on the other hand, abounds with useful and interesting information connected with war and politics from a truly Indian perspective. The same can be said of the laws according to which the war ought to be conducted. The Nitiprakasika and the Sukraniti, while testifying to a high civilisation prevailing in ancient India, cast also some light on the recension of such works as the Mahabharata and the Manava-dharma-sastra. The book also settles the difficult and intricate question of the use of gunpowder and firearms by the ancient Hindus.