Kautilya’s thought of Administration

Every Civilized society needs good administrative system and administration is as old as our ancient civilization. Administration is essential for implementing government orders and functions. The history of ancient Indian governmental system begins from vedic times and continued till the establishment of Mughal rule. In the evolution process of Indian administration numerous administrative organizations rose and fell but its speciality of village focused administration continues. The present administration is a developed form of the old administrative system we find mention of the organization and functions of administration in vedic literature, Budhist and Jain literature, Dharamshastras, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharta, Manu Samriti, Sukra Niti and Arthashastra etc. In the vedic period, the king was assisted in his functions by various officials. Our both epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are full of mention of administrative officers and their relevant departments. We find similar references in Manu Samriti and Sukra Niti. However, Kautilya‘s athashastra provides details of the office of the state. During the reigns of Chandragupta and Ashoka the administrative system was fully developed and Mauryan administrative institutions were further developed during the Gupta period.

In the ancient time, various types of administrative system were popular but the systematic pattern of administration has developed during the period of Kautilya. The arthashastra of Kautilya is one of the main sources to a detailed understanding of administration in ancient India. It deals with different aspects of administration and provide clear understanding of the state. It is the most authoritative treatise on hindu polity. According to Kautilya, Arthashastra is a combination of science of government and science of wealth. He described about the science of government and stated ―it is on the science of government that course of the progress of the world depends.‖ While referring to the science of wealth he stated ―it is by means of the treasury and the army obtained solely through Varta that the king can hold under his control both his and his enemy‘s party.‖ He tried to define the certain general principles such as: unity of command, authority, responsibility, obedience of orders, duty and discipline for the machinery of the state and administration. He had knowledge about all the prevalent forms of government namely aristocracy, monarchy, republic and democracy. He used comparative methods to analyze the merits and demerits of these government.

According to Kautilya, the state is responsible for the welfare of the people, maintenance of law and order, preserve dharma and promote economic well-being. The important goal of administration is the welfare of people. Monarchy was the form of government during the period of Mauryan in which king was the head of the state and all the legislative, executive and judiciary powers were inherent in him. Kautilya also described the required qualities of the King for being a good ruler. He mentioned that the person who has fear of God with a religious bent of mind, can be free from anger, lust and avarice, is fit to be king. He must be ideal, non-violent by nature and not covetous of another property and wife. The king he needs ministers and officers who can help him to achieve the targets set by him. All the officers are directly or indirectly appointed by him so they were responsible towards king for their administrative actions but he was against the authoritarianism and arbitrariness therefore against the absolute Monarchy.

Kautilya regarded the state as necessary because in the absence of it the anarchy will prevail. At that time, the law of survival of fittest was popular in which smaller fish was swallowed by the bigger one. He believed that the state is an organism and not only a mechanical institution. Saptang theory consists of seven organs namely King, Janpad, Amatya, Treasury, Armed forces, Fort and Friends. This theory does not cover the office of Prime minister and Purohit. These seven organs were responsible for the stability and the survival of the state. These organs have been defined further in detail.

The king was the real ruler and all the offices revolve around him. According to the Arthasastra the king must be the defender of Dharma. His main objective was the welfare of the people and he was expected to be fearless, grateful, thinker and decisive. He mentioned that the real king always thinks to expand the territory of its boundaries. For this purpose, he needs to be conquered if he is failed to do this he can be removed. In fact, he has defined a rigorous time schedule for the daily life of the king in which he has bifurcated day and night into eight parts each.

Janpad is a combination of territory and humans inhabiting it. The territory should be well defined and managed which comprises of some natural frontiers like rivers, mountains, forests etc. So far as inhabitants is concerned, they should be intelligent, loyal, industrious and have a good character.

Amatya comes next to the king in hierarchy and was not only a top most public official which can be compared to the cabinet secretary of the current era but also a special minister. It was responsible for the administration and its details. According to Kautilya, selection to this high and crucial post was vital and difficult task. Therefore, he mentioned that amatya must be among such persond who are highly intelligent, efficient and quick decision maker. Kautilya categories all the Amatyas, Mantrins and Head of Departments into the following eighteen tirths:

Treasury was the pillar of the state as all the income collected through village tax, sales tax, export tax was kept in it. Moreover, there was also a provision of budget for some particular expenses. An emergency fund was also established to meet the unforeseen expenses.

Army played crucial role to keep the state safe from the enemies. According to Kautilya, a good soldier must be brave, courageous, loyal, adventurous, well developed in military science etc. in short, he must have the qualities of Kshatriya.

Forts were established for the purpose of defence namely internal rebellion and external aggression. These forts should have enough provisions like articles, food, water medicines etc and should be well equipped with weapons.

The term ‗Friends‘ stands for a good neighborly state.

King was the ruler in real so while exercising his duties and responsibilities he was assisted by the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister. In the Mauryan period, these ministers were only

elected body and king was free to appoint or remove any minister. Kautilya also defined the qualities of the minister like he should be ambitious, patient, adventurous, clever, popular. In addition to this, he must be belonged to the good family and high castes. Council of ministers was the constitutional institution and king was free to consult with any minister or ministers while appointing the key officials. Following were the main functions of the council of ministers: ► Commencement of the task not started. ► Completion of the task started. ► Enhancement of the accomplished task. ► Proper implementation of the order passed. ► General supervision over the administration.

In Arthasastra, Kautilya has described four kinds of states namely Vijgishu, Ari, Madhyam, Udasin which form the quadrivium of his foreign policy. The Vijgishu or a conquerer, a state whose ruler always look out for the expansion of the state and this forms the centre. Ari or enemy related to the states surrounding the vijgishu which are normally opponent to the centre. The third kind of state is Madhyam or Middle state which is competent in both either helping him or fighting him. The last one is the Udasin or neutral state which is different from the Ari or the Madhyam and observes neutrality in relation with other states. Kautilya also stated that a sensible king always adheres a foreign policy which would increase and strengthen the affluence of the country and at the same time harass his enemy.

► Welfaristic orientation of state ► Council of Ministers ► Bureaucratic science of administration ► Urban local governance ► Accountability in Public administration ► Strategic diplomatic policy ► Nature of head of state ► Functional orientation of decentralization ► Functional separation of power ► Nature of state ► Differences in behavior of ruler

Kautilya occupies a vital position in among Hindu scholars. He had a number of followers but some scholars also criticized him. Thus, vishakhadatta calls him Kutilmati or unscrupulous and Bana regards his Arthasastra as a treatise on immorality and lack of scruples. Inspite of his criticism, kautilya‘s Arthasastra have great impact on Indian administration not only in ancient time but in current era also and described different forms of government comparatively. Thus, he believed in centralized government. His Arthasasta is a well-researchedand comprehensive work which try to solve the practicle problems of that time.

1. Prasad, Ravindra, et. al. (2013). ―Administrative Thinker‖, Sterling Publication, New Delhi. 2. Arora K, Ramesh & Goyal Rajni (2016). ―Indian Public Administration: Institutions and Issues, New Age International Publishers, New Delhi. 3. Avasthi, A & Avasthi, A.P. (2017). ―Indian Administration‖, Lakshmi Narain Agarwal Educational Publishers, Agra, 2017. 4. Howladar, Mithun (2017). ―Political Thoughts of Kautilya: An Overview‖, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development 5. https://www.hinduwebsite.com/ history/kautilya.asp 6. https://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.com/2012/09/evolution-of-indian-administration.html 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthashastra

M.A. (History), NET navdeep.nitk@gmail.com