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Chanakya

File:Chanakya_artistic_depiction.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Chanakya

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Also known as Indian Machiavelli

Chanakya (ISO: '''', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power and the establishment of the Maurya Empire. According to these narratives, Chanakya served as the chief adviser and prime minister to both emperors Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara.

OverviewAI-generated

Chanakya was a male writer, philosopher, economist, and teacher who practiced Hinduism. He is also known by the nickname Indian Machiavelli. His birth name was कौटिल्य, विष्णुगुप्त, and he was born in Taxila in 375 BCE. He died in Patna in 283 BCE. He wrote in Sanskrit and his notable work is the Arthashastra.

He served as a professor and held the position of teacher. His students included Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara. He is described by the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. His writings include quotations such as "A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first." He is referenced by 1,057 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 32 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1921
Died
.·
Works
20

Top works

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via Open Library + Wikidata

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
60
Total plays
135

Similar artists

Baba Hansraj RaghuwanshiStep 2

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Chanakya">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Chanakya

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

  1. Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)<sup>1</sup>

    · 2021 · cited 2,494x

  2. 2D Heterostructures for Ubiquitous Electronics and Optoelectronics: Principles, Opportunities, and Challenges

    · 2022 · cited 680x

  3. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) resistance and the new strategy to enhance the sensitivity against cancer: Implication of DNA repair inhibition

    · 2021 · cited 495x

  4. N-Fused Imidazoles As Novel Anticancer Agents That Inhibit Catalytic Activity of Topoisomerase IIα and Induce Apoptosis in G1/S Phase

    · 2011 · cited 279x

  5. Euglena sp. as a suitable source of lipids for potential use as biofuel and sustainable wastewater treatment

    · 2013 · cited 144x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

  • “If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works. Besides, a reckless king will easily fall into the hands of his enemies. Hence the king shall ever be wakeful.”
  • “All urgent calls he shall hear at once, but never put off; for when postponed, they will prove too hard or impossible to accomplish.”
  • “The king who is situated anywhere immediately on the circumference of the conqueror's territory is termed the enemy.The king who is likewise situated close to the enemy, but separated from the conqueror only by the enemy, is termed the friend (of the conqueror).”
  • “Don't judge the future of a person based on his present conditions, because time has the power to change black coal to shiny diamond.”
  • “A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.”
  • “Till the enemy's weakness is known , he should be kept on friendly terms.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Person.name
Chanakya
Person.image
Chanakya artistic depiction.jpg
Person.caption
Chanakya as depicted on the cover of R. Shamasastry's 1915 translation of Arthashastra
Person.birth_place
Chanaka village in Golla region, South India (Jain legends);or in Takshashila (Buddhist legends)
Person.death_place
Pataliputra, Maurya Empire
Person.occupation
Political advisor, prime minister
Person.era
4th century BC–3rd century BCE
Person.known_for
Prominent role in the foundation of the Maurya Empire
Person.relatives
Chanaka (father)

via Wikipedia infobox

~38 min read

Encyclopedic overview

26 sections
Contents
  • Chanakya-Chandragupta ''katha'' (legend)
  • Buddhist version (5th-6th cent. CE)
  • Source
  • Narrative
  • Jain version (12th cent. CE, based on 1st-8th cent. CE sources)
  • Source
  • Narrative
  • Kashmiri version (11th cent. CE)
  • Source
  • Kashmiri narrative
  • Mudrarakshasa version (4th-8th cent. CE)
  • Source
  • Mudrarakshasa narrative (4th-8th cent. CE)
  • Legacy
  • Identification with Kautilya, author of the ''Arthashastra''
  • Naming
  • In popular culture
  • Plays
  • Film and television
  • Arthashastra
  • Fiction
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • Sources
  • External links

Chanakya (ISO: ', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power and the establishment of the Maurya Empire. According to these narratives, Chanakya served as the chief adviser and prime minister to both emperors Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara.

Conventionally, Chanakya was identified with Kauṭilya and synonymously Vishnugupta', the author of the ancient Indian politico-economic treatise Arthashastra. Arthashastra is now thought with high probability to have been composed by multiple authors during the early centuries of the common era&mdash;several centuries after the Mauryan period&mdash;the backdated identification with Chanakya to have served to add prestige to the work.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chanakya” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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