Kautilya on the Crooked Business of Politics

The ancient Indian treatise on rulership, and the pragmatics of maintaining power

Image: Portuguese image of an Indian war elephant, c. 1540. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

There is perhaps no headache greater than that of being a head of state. Or, in fact, being the head of anything. From the ancient world to the present day, it has been recognised that to be a ruler is to be condemned to a life of constant vigilance. You…