The man in the above picture, whose name has become a synonym for strategy and political wile in India, Kautilya, Vishnugupta, but more commonly known to most as Chanakya. There is not much agreement on where he was born, some versions state it as Taxila and some state it was somewhere in the South. Educated at Takshasila, he would later be an acharya there.
While there have been many texts about him, the most popular one has been Mudrarakshasa, the Sanskrit play by Vishakadatta. His major achievement has been the overthrow of the Nanda dynasty and creating the Mauryan empire. As per the play, he was insulted by the Nanda ruler, Dhana Nanda, and that made him swear, he would not tie his shikha( the tuft of hair worn by Brahmins) until the Nandas were overthrown. And in his quest for revenge, he found Chandragupta, whom he felt was the right man to replace Dhana Nanda. While some versions that Chandragupta was the son of the chief of Moriya clan, which also led to the name Chandragupta Maurya, another states he was the son of a royal concubine Mura.
It was also a critical time in the country's history, with Alexander the Great waging an expedition to India, after having overrun Persia. Chanakya felt that the Nandas having become pleasure loving and weak, could not be relied upon to protect the country. Forming an alliance with Parvata( identified as King Porus), Chandragupta easily defeated Nanda, overthrow him, and became the King. However the actual problems started from now on. Rakshas, the capable minister of the Nandas was now swearing revenge over his master's death, and Parvata had passed away, with his son Malayaketu taking over the throne.
Malayaketu now wanted to take control over all the former Nanda territories that were now under Chandragupta, he was aided in this by Rakshas, who saw it as the best chance to take revenge. Chanakya faked a rift between him and Chandragupta, and then in a double move made his agents feed false information to Malayaketu, that Rakshas was now going to Chanakya's court. That achieved the desired effect, with the rift widening between Malayaketu and Rakshas. Chanakya's agents also spread information that the 5 allies who were part of Malayaketu's coalition were planning to oust him. Malayaketu ordered their killings, Rakshas moves over to Chandragupta's side, and in the end his grand plans come to naught. In one move, Chanakya not only ensured Rakshas services would be used for the Mauryas, but he completely neutralized Malayaketu too.
When the iniitial attempts to capture overthrow the Nandas were unsuccesful, Chanakya then changed strategy. Instead of attacking directly at the center, which was Magadha, he attacked from the periphery capturing those areas,and then moved into the center. He also used Rakshasa's mistress Suvasini to create a rift between Nanda and Rakshas, knowing very well, that without the latter's advice, Nanda was ineffective.
Chanakya's greatest legacy to India, has been the Arthashastra, a treatise on economy, statecraft, military strategy, that continues to be relevant even now. The qualities of an ideal king, leadership are well defined. More important though is the way Chanakya lays out the principles of statecraft, be it in resolving disputes, espionage, and how to deal with neighbors.
Alexander the Great had to meet his Waterloo in India, retreating from there,and it was thanks to Chanakya's strategies, where he cleverly built a series of alliances, that effectively repelled the Greeks. And add to it, being responsible for creating one of the first great empires in India, the Mauryas, Chanakya to me is one of the most influential political strategist.
Credits: google images,Wiki, Ratnakar Sadasyula
No comments:
Post a Comment