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Showing posts from October 15, 2013

Chanakya - Indian Machiavelli

Chanakya - Indian Machiavelli One of the greatest figures of wisdom and knowledge in the Indian history is Chanakya. Chanakya (c. 350-283 BCE) was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BCE), and architect of his rise to power. Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was born in Pataliputra, Magadh (modern Bihar), and later moved to Taxila, in Gandhar province(now in Pakistan). He was a professor (acharya) of political  science at the Takshashila University and later the Prime Minister of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. He is widely believed to be responsible for the creation of Mauryan empire, the first of its kind on the Indian subcontinent. He is regarded as one of the earliest known political thinkers, economists and king-makers. He was the man to envision the first Indian empire by unification of the then numerous kingdoms in the Indian sub-continent and provide the impetus for fights against the Greek conqueror Alex