A Critical Comparison of Kautilya's 'Arthashastra' and Machiavelli's 'The Prince', Their Political Theories and Philosophies

Kautilya’s Arthashastra was translated to English in the year 1915, since then its comparison with Machiavelli started. Chanakya is credited with the creation of Arthashastra, a magnum opus on statecraft, law, military, and other matters of the state. The Arthashastra is the oldest book on political science and political ethics, and he introduced many other prominent issues to be kept in mind compared to Machiavelli. Machiavelli only concentrates on political and fiscal matters, Kautilya writes about the importance of land settlements, promotion of economic activity, rules of society, construction of infrastructure, defence, and communication. He has given a list of behavioral codes for ministers, king, and civilians. There is mention of diverse levels of administration, various departments and the roles for the officials are clearly defined. And the entire administration was based on the foundation of ‘Dharma’. Arthashastra is a comprehensive, coherent, original document while on the other hand Machiavelli was seeking a job and he sent his manuscript with job application. Consequently, he covered a very few topics and did not analyze any topic in depth. Though written and complied centuries apart and prior to Machiavelli’s Prince, The Arthashastra is much more detailed and complete text on state craft which is relevant even today. Some researchers have even gone to the extent of saying that, comparing Machiavelli’s Prince to Kautilya’s Arthashastra is like comparing a candlelight to that of sunlight.