NOTES

1. Difference of opinion exists as to the name, authorship and time of the author of the Artha Sastra. Hillebrandt in Uber Das Kautilya Sastra und Verwandtes, (Breslau 1908) has attempted to prove that Kautilya is not himself the sole author of the Artha Sastra but that it belongs to a school of that name. Prof. Jacobi on the other hand has successfully refuted the view of Hillebrandt in his article ‘Uber die Echtheitdes Kautilya’ in Sitzungsberichte des Koniglich Pressischen Akaddemi der Wissenschaften (XXXIII. 1912. P. 832-849).

Prof. Winternitz, after an elaborate discussion, has assigned the Period of Kautilya to the third century A.D. Prof. Jolly in his introduction to Kautilya-Artha Sastra is inclined to ascribe a southern origin to the real author of the book and thinks that Kautilya is a fabulous name. The excerpt runs thus: ‘The geographical horizon of the author, on the whole, points to a southern rather than a northern home.

Thus in the discussion of trade-routes (VII. 12) the route to the south is declared to be preferable because shells, diamonds, gems, pearls and gold are to be found in abundance in the south, and in the chapter on the examination of gems (II, II) South India and Ceylon occupy a prominent place. The only known MS of the Artha Sastra exists in the South, and the frequent interchange of the two letters v and p in the same MS is a Southern peculiarity.