Chanakya was born in 350 BC in Patliputra (modern Patna) and was also known as Kautilya. He was a teacher of political science and later became the prime minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. As prime minister, he helped Chandragupta defeat the Nanda Empire and establish the Maurya Empire, uniting most of the Indian subcontinent. Chanakya was a brilliant strategist who outmaneuvered his enemies through deception and cunning plans. He is renowned for writing the ancient Indian texts Arthashastra and Nitishastra, which discuss political science, economics, military strategy and social organization.

1. Born around 350 BC and died around 283 BC
Name at birth was Vishnugupta but was later known as
Chānakya and Kautilya
Born in Patliputra, Maghadh which is currently Patna,
Bihar in India
Teacher of political science at Taxila University
Later became Prime Minister of Emperor Chandragupta
Maurya

2. Vishnugupta was born to Rishi Chanak in Patliputra who
was a revolutionary against the evil emperor of Magadh.
Chanak was exiled after publicly speaking out against the
king. Vishnugupta left soon after to study at the famous
Taxila University.
Taxila was the best University of the time and offered
education in many different fields.

3. After completing his education, Vishnugupta became a
professor at the Taxila University. Here he got the names
Chanakya and Kautilya due to his fame and wits.
Gandhar Republic attacked Taxila because the dim-witted
prince of Taxila sent soldiers to the border to abuse and
torture the people living there.
Taxila was defeated in no time but Porus, the king of
Gandhar, demanded that Gandharians not be attacked
again and left without taking or destroying anything.

4. Before Taxila could recover from being defeated,
thousands of refugees came into Taxila saying that there
was a white invader by the name of Alexshendra who
was planning on attacking India.
The dim-witted prince of Taxila became friends with
Alexander when he arrived and gave him soldiers and
money to support his planned conquests.
When Chanakya heard about his he immediately turned
the school into a war training station and rebeled
against the Greeks. Chanakya created his own army and
an impressive system of spies to destroy the Greeks.

5. After defeating the Greeks Chanakya returned to his
homeland, Patliputra. One day, while walking on the
road he stepped on some thorns. He controlled his
anger, bent down and destroyed every one of the
thorns.
The prime minister who had recently been insulted by
the tyrannical Dhananand (the king) saw this event and
thought that such a determined man could help him get
his revenge. He then took Chanakya to the king’s court.
The king laughed and made fun of him. Chanakya
swore to destroy the king and his sons for that insult.
The prime minister recommended that Dhananand’s
eldest son Chandragupta would be fit to rule. His father
and eight brothers had repeatedly tried to kill him
because his mother was of low-caste and he was
extremely strong and intelligent.

6. Chanakya went around telling peasants and common folk
that Magadh needed to be in stronger hands and not under
the rule of the tyrannous Dhanananda.
Chandragupta gathered a huge militia in this way. While he
was doing this, Chanakya persuaded a greedy King called
Parvatak to help because Chanakya assured him half of
Magadh.
Chandragupta’s army attacked and defeated the army of
Magadh with Chanakya’s guidance.

7. Dhananad’s chief minister Rakshas was still trying to
avenge his master’s death. He met with Parvatak (The
king Chanakya promised half his land) and convinced
the king to help him by promising him the entire
kingdom of Magadh.
Chandragupta became sick so Rakshas bribed the
physician to put poison in the medicine. Chanakya
made the physician drink the medicine himself and in
this way Chandragupta was saved.
A few weeks later, Chandragupta was being moved to
the former palace of Dhananand. Rakshas planted
soldiers in the cellars to kill Chandragupta at night.
Chanakya saw ants coming from a crack in the floor
carrying grains of rice during his inspection and
immediately realized that there were soldiers in the
basement. He ordered the guards to burn the palace
immediately and not to let anyone escape.

8. Rakshas was very angry after many of his warriors were
burned but he didn’t give up. He sent a poisonous
dancer to Chandragupta to kill him. Chanakya
immediately recognized the “dancer” and sent her to
King Parvatak yo kill him
Rakshas then allied with Parvatak’s son Malyaketu and 5
other kings to attack Magadh. To break this alliance,
Chanakya’s spies saved Rakshas’s friend and took him to
Rakshas. As payment for this favor, Rakshas let the spy
stay with him.
The same night, the spy let himself be caught near
Mlayaketu’s tent. He was carrying a fake letter from
Rakshas telling Chandragupta that he and the five kings
were going to betray him. When he read this he killed
the five other kings and only let Rakshas go because he
was a Brahmin. Chanakya then met Rakshas and made
him the prime minister of Magadh because he admired
Rakshas’s loyalty and determination.

9. How Chanakya’s gifts helped him achieve his goals.

10. Chanakya was amazing at guessing his enemy’s
every move and never once did he fail to predict
his enemy’s doings. He was also very good at
persuasion. (defeating Rakshas)
Chanakya was very good at spy work and
managing spy-systems and conducting unexpected
attacks on his enemies (defeat of the Greeks)
Chanakya was a great political philosopher who
wrote the Arthashastra and Nitishastra. He has
been called the Indian Machiavelli for his works.

11. Both were political philosophers
Machiavelli’s works are based on how to maintain
control while Chanakya’s works talk about basic
principles and what is an ideal ruler.
Both men’s works related to their respective time periods
but they still have some basic things in common.
Chanakya used his principles and defeated the Greeks
and Maghada while Machiavelli didn’t defeat any
government or empire.

12. The many great things Chanakya accomplished in his lifetime.

13. Chanakya was the person who thought of the plans
to defeat Alexander out of India. To accomplish this,
he united different kingdoms to fight against the
Greeks which was a very rare occurrence.
He also thought of the plans to take over his
homeland, Magadh, from the tyrannical rule of the
Nand Dynasty and handed it over to his main
apprentice, Chandragupta Maurya. Under
Chanakya’s guidance, Chandragupta created a huge
empire unititig most of India by using Magadh’s
enormous military force and wealth. This later
became the great Ashokan Empire and for the first
time in it’s history, India was a united nation.

14. The Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft, economic
policy and military strategy written by Chanakya. It is
divided into 15 books and is basically a king’s
“manual” on how to run a kingdom.
The Nitishastra is a book about political ethics taken
from various Shastras and compiled by Chanakya and
is also useful when running a government.

15. A debt should be paid off till the last penny, and an
enemy should be destroyed without a trace.
A human being should strive for four things in life
— dharma (duty), artha (money), kama (pleasure)
and moksha (salvation). A person who hasn't
striven for even one of these things has wasted life.
A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
A person should not be too honest. Just as straight
trees are chopped-down first, honest people are
taken advantage of first.
Friendship should be among equals .

16. In India, Chanakya is held as a intelligent scholar who
rid India of the Greeks and killed the bad and
tyrannous kings of the time and gave way to the
Ashokan Empire. His books are also very esteemed
and have helped many people operate businesses and
even governments.
In the west, however, scholars view him as a malicious
but genius Brahmin who ruthlessly slaughtered and
overthrew kings to put himself in power. This of
course is not true but is the cause of misinformation
from the British.
In his time he became very famous and liked after
defeating the Greeks but after defeating Magadh, many
commoners and nobles loyal to the Nand Dynasty
wanted revenge.

17. In Chanakya’s life there were hundreds of different
kingdoms and it was very unsafe to travel because of
dacoits and princes who liked to torture people
In my life there aren’t any evil kings or foreign
invaders that I have to be scared of or fight against.

18. If Chanakya was still alive I wouldn’t be surprised if
the entire earth would be a super country with its
government in India.
I also think that there would be very less wars and
only “ideal” rulers according to the Arthashastra
would be allowed in office.

19. Microsoft Encarta 2004
Amar Chitra Katha: Chanakya
http://www.researchfellow.net/fpost131.html
http://www.worldofbiography.com/9046-Chanakya/gallery.Chandra Prakash Dwivedi’s “Chanakya”