Chanakya

Chanakya (Kisanskrit: चाणक्य Cāṇakya) (mnamo 350 KK - 283 KK) alikuwa mshauri na waziri wa mfalme Chandragupta Maurya (mnamo 340 KK - 293 KK) nchini Uhindi. Chanakya alimsaidia Chandragupta kuunda utawala wa nasaba ya Maurya.

Chanakya hukumbukwa hasa kwa vitabu 2 anavyoaminiwa alitunga: Arthashastra na Nitishastra.

Katika Arthashastra anajadili matatizo ya kuongoza na kukuza dola pamoja na siasa ya uchumi, siasa ya nje na mipango ya kijeshi. Kitabu hiki kimeitwa kitabu cha kwanza kinachofundisha siasa na uchumi.

Maelezo yake yanalenga kutambua masharti kwa kustawi kwa nchi akilenga kuikuza kuwa kubwa kuliko majrina na kuwashinda. Hapa haangalii maswali ya haki lakini faida ya mtawala pekee. Kutokana na tabia amelinganishwa na mwanasiasa Mwitalia Machiavelli lakini alimtangulia kwa milenia.

Nitishastra ni andiko la falsafa na dini linalojadili njia bora za kuiendesha maisha.

Vitabu mbalimbali na filamu zinajadili mafundisho yake.

• Television series Chanakya is a fictionalized account of the life and times of Chanakya.
• A book has been published in English titled 'Chanakya on Management"{18} in which each of the 216 sutras on raja-neeti has been translated and commented upon. Clearly, the entire system of thought propounded by Chanakya is based on following good ethical principles.
• In his Arthasastra, Chanakya has discussed widely various economic issues. A book written by Ratan Lal Basu & Rajkumar Sen has dealt exhaustively with these economic concepts of Chanakya and their relevance for the modern world.^[1]
• Many eminent Kautilya experts from all over the world had discussed various aspects of Kautilya's thought in an International Conference held in 1902 at Oriental Research Institute, Mysore, India to celebrate the Centenary of discovery of the manuscript of the Arthashastra by R. Shamasastry. Most of the papers presented in the Conference have been compiled in an edited volume by Raj Kumar Sen and Ratan Lal Basu.^[2]