Chanakya, Maurya & Corporations

Hello there!

Yesterday I began talking about Chanakya, India's forgotten "Machiavelli." Today, I'll be diving deeper into this teacher, philosopher, economist, and statesman, plus a bit about the Mauryan Empire/Dynasty.

Just like Machiavelli's The Prince, Chanakya (also known as "Kautilya") wrote the Indian political treatise Arthashastra (Science of Politics & Economics).

He played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya dynasty, which was one of the largest empires in the world around the 1st century BCE.

Chanakya was born to a poor Brahmin family but was educated at Takshashila (now in Pakistan), an ancient center of learning located in the northwestern part of India.

He was a highly learned person having in-depth knowledge in a variety of subjects like economics, politics, war strategies, medicine, and astrology (the precursor to science and astronomy 😉).

He began his career as a teacher and went on to become a trusted ally of Emperor Chandragupta. Working as the emperor’s adviser, he helped Chandragupta overthrow the previous Nanda dynasty and attain new powers.

Dynasties & Empires vs. Modern Corporations

When tracing the growth of these old dynasties and empires, you can see similarities to the way modern corporations and "communities" operate (markets to "conquer"). But instead of being bound by geographical boundaries, the Internet has opened up adoption globally without traditional restrictions:

If traditional national boundaries break down (as mentioned in Issue #058 with Rise of the Network State), could our future history texts look at our time through the lens of app downloads? What happens if the "metaverse" becomes ubiquitous?

Entities will still need to know how to manage and organize their people, regardless of the medium or technology. Meaning works like Chanakya's and even Machiavelli's will continue to be timeless, "sage" advice.

Tomorrow, we'll dig into some applicable lessons from Chanakya's famous treatise Arthashastra. Hopefully, it'll help you with your own business or community-building efforts.

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