Painters, carpenters, heretics, actors, merchants, and other disguised spies belonging to the conqueror's army may also reside inside the fort of the enemy. Spies, disguised as agriculturists, may supply them with weapons taken in carts loaded with firewood, grass, grains, and other commodities of commerce, or disguised as images and flags of gods. Then spies, disguised as priests, may announce to the enemy, blowing their conch shells and beating their drums, that a besieging army, eager to destroy all, and armed with weapons, is coming closely behind them. Then in the ensuing tumult, they may surrender the fort-gate and the towers of the fort to the army of the conqueror or disperse the enemy's army and bring about his fall.
Or taking advantage of peace and friendship with the enemy, army and weapons may be collected inside the enemy's fort by spies disguised as merchants, caravans, processions leading a bride, merchants selling horses, peddlers trading in miscellaneous articles, purchasers or sellers of grains, and as ascetics. These and others are the spies aiming on the life of a king.
The same spies, together with those described in "Removal of thorns" may, by employing thieves, destroy the flock of the enemy's cattle or merchandise in the vicinity of wild tracts. They may poison with the juice of the madana plant, the food- stuffs and beverage kept, as previously arranged, in a definite place for the enemy's cowherds, and go out unknown. When the cowherds show signs of intoxication in consequence of their eating the above food-stuffs, spies, disguised as cowherds, merchants, and thieves, may fall upon the enemy's cowherds, and carry off the cattle.
Spies disguised as ascetics with shaved head or braided hair and pretending to be the worshippers of god, Sankarshana, may mix their sacrificial beverage with the juice of the madana plant (and give it to the cowherds), and carry off the cattle.
Kautilya's Arthashastra A spy, under the guise of a vintner, may, on the occasion of procession of gods, funeral rites, festivals, and other congregations of people, go to sell liquor and present the cowherds with some liquor mixed with the juice of the madana plant. Then others may fall upon the intoxicated cowherds (and carry off the cattle).
* Those spies, who enter into the wild tracts of the enemy with the intention of plundering his villages, and who, leaving that work, set themselves to destroy the enemy, are termed spies under the garb of thieves.
[Thus ends Chapter III, "The Work of Spies in a Siege," in Book XIII, "The Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress," of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the hundred and forty-third chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER IV. THE OPERATION OF A SIEGE.
REDUCTION (of the enemy) must precede a siege. The territory that has been conquered should be kept so peacefully that it might sleep without any fear. When it is in rebellion, it is to be pacified by bestowing re-wards and remitting taxes, unless the conqueror means to quit it. Or he may select his battle fields in a remote part of the enemy's territory, far from the populous centres; for, in the opinion of Kautilya, no territory deserves the name of a kingdom or country unless it is full of people. When a people resist the attempt of the conqueror, then he may destroy their stores, crops, and granaries, and trade.
* By the destruction of trade, agricultural produce, and standing crops, by causing the people to run away, and by slaying Kautilya's Arthashastra their leaders in secret, the country will be denuded of its people.
When the conqueror thinks: "My army is provided with abundance of staple corn, raw materials, machines, weapons, dress, labourers, ropes and the like, and has a favourable season to act, whereas my enemy has an unfavourable season and is suffering from disease, famine and loss of stores and defencive force, while his hired troops as well as the army of his friend are in a miserable condition,"— then he may begin the siege.
Having well guarded his camp, transports, supplies and also the roads of communication, and having dug up a ditch and raised a rampart round his camp, he may vitiate the water in the ditches round the enemy's fort, or empty the ditches of their water or fill them with water if empty, and then he may assail the rampart and the parapets by making use of underground tunnels and iron rods. If the ditch (dvdram) is very deep, he may fill it up with soil. If it is defended by a number of men, he may destroy it by means of machines. Horse soldiers may force their passage through the gate into the fort and smite the enemy. Now and then in the midst of tumult, he may offer terms to the enemy by taking recourse to one, two, three, or all of the strategic means.
Having captured the birds such as the vulture, crow, naptri, bhdsa, parrot, mdina, and pigeon which have their nests in the fort-walls, and having tied to their tails inflammable powders (agniyoga), he may let them fly to the forts. If the camp is situated at a distance from the fort and is provided with an elevated post for archers and their flags, then the enemy's fort may be set on fire. Spies, living as watchmen of the fort, may tie inflammable powder to the tails of mongooses, monkeys, cats and dogs and let them go over the thatched roofs of the houses. A splinter of fire kept in the body of a dried fish may be caused to be carried off by a monkey, or a crow, or any other bird (to the thatched roofs of the houses).
Kautilya's Arthashastra Small balls prepared from the mixture of sarala (Pinus Longifolia), devaddru (deodar), putitrina (stinking grass), guggulu (Bdellium), sriveshtaka (turpentine), the juice of sarja (Vatica Robusta), and laksha (lac) combined with dungs of an ass, camel, sheep, and goat are inflammable (agnidharanah, i.e., such as keep fire.)
The mixture of the powder of priyala (Chironjia Sapida), the charcoal of avalguja (oanyza, serratula, anthelmintica), madhuchchhishta (wax), and the dung of a horse, ass, camel, and cow is an inflammable powder to be hurled against the enemy.
The powder of all the metals (sarvaloha) as red as fire, or the mixture of the powder of kumbhi (gmelia arberea, sisa (lead), trapu (zinc), mixed with the charcoal powder of the flowers of pdribhadraka (deodar), paldsa (Butea Frondosa), and hair, and with oil, wax, and turpentine, is also an inflammable powder.
A stick of visvdsaghdti painted with the above mixture and wound round with a bark made of hemp, zinc, and lead, is a fire-arrow (to be hurled against the enemy).
When a fort can be captured by other means, no attempt should be made to set fire to it; for fire cannot be trusted; it not only offends gods, but also destroys the people, grains, cattle, gold, raw materials and the like. Also the acquisition of a fort with its property all destroyed is a source of further loss. Such is the aspect of a siege.
When the conqueror thinks: "I am well provided with all necessary means and with workmen whereas my enemy is diseased with officers proved to be impure under temptations, with unfinished forts and deficient stores, allied with no friends, or with friends inimical at heart," then he should consider it as an Kautilya's Arthashastra opportune moment to take up arms and storm the fort.
When fire, accidental or intentionally kindled, breaks out; when the enemy's people are engaged in a sacrificial performance, or in witnessing spectacles or the troops, or in a quarrel due to the drinking of liquor; or when the enemy's army is too much tired by daily engagements in battles and is reduced in strength in consequence of the slaughter of a number of its men in a number of battles; when the enemy's people wearied from sleeplessness have fallen asleep; or on the occasion of a cloudy day, of floods, or of a thick fog or snow, general assault should be made.
Or having concealed himself in a forest after abandoning the camp, the conqueror may strike the enemy when the latter comes out.
A king pretending to be the enemy's chief friend or ally, may make the friendship closer with the besieged, and send a messenger to say: "This is thy weak point; these are thy internal enemies; that is the weak point of the besieger; and this person (who, deserting the conqueror, is now coming to thee) is thy partisan." When this partisan is returning with another messenger from the enemy, the conqueror should catch hold of him and, having published the partisan's guilt, should banish him, and retire from the siege operations. Then the pretending friend may tell the besieged: "Come out to help me, or let us combine and strike the besieger." Accordingly, when the enemy comes out, he may be hemmed between the two forces (the conqueror's force and the pretending friend's force) and killed or captured alive to distribute his territory (between the conqueror and the friend). His capital city may be razed to the ground; and the flower of his army made to come out and destroyed.
This explains the treatment of a conquered enemy or wild chief.
Kautilya's Arthashastra Either a conquered enemy or the chief of a wild tribe (in conspiracy with the conqueror) may inform the besieged: "With the intention of escaping from a disease, or from the attack in his weak point by his enemy in the rear, or from a rebellion in his army, the conqueror seems to be thinking of going elsewhere, abandoning the siege." When the enemy is made to believe this, the conqueror may set fire to his camp and retire. Then the enemy coming out may be hemmed...as before.
Or having collected merchandise mixed with poison, the conqueror may deceive the enemy by sending that merchandise to the latter.
Or a pretending ally of the enemy may send a messenger to the enemy, asking him: "Come out to smite the conqueror already struck by me." When he does so, he may be hemmed...as before.
Spies, disguised as friends or relatives and with passports and orders in their hands, may enter the enemy's fort and help to its capture.
Or a pretending ally of the enemy may send information to the besieged: "I am going to strike the besieging camp at such a time and place; then you should also fight along with me." When the enemy does so, or when he comes out of his fort after witnessing the tumult and uproar of the besieging army in danger, he may be slain as before.
Or a friend or a wild chief in friendship with the enemy may be induced and encouraged to seize the land of the enemy when the latter is besieged by the conqueror. When accordingly any one of them attempts to seize the enemy's territory, the enemy's people or the leaders of the enemy's traitors may be employed to murder him (the friend or the wild chief); or the conqueror himself may Kautilya's Arthashastra administer poison to him. Then another pretending friend may inform the enemy that the murdered person was a fratricide (as he attempted to seize the territory of his friend in troubles). After strengthening his intimacy with the enemy, the pretending friend may sow the seeds of dissension between the enemy and his officers and have the latter hanged. Causing the peaceful people of the enemy to rebel, he may put them down, unknown to the enemy. Then having taken with him a portion of his army composed of furious wild tribes, he may enter the enemy's fort and allow it to be captured by the conqueror. Or traitors, enemies, wild tribes and other persons who have deserted the enemy, may, under the plea of having been reconciled, honoured and rewarded, go back to the enemy and allow the fort to be captured by the conqueror.
Having captured the fort or having returned to the camp after its capture, he should give quarter to those of the enemy's army who, whether as lying prostrate in the field, or as standing with their back turned to the conqueror, or with their hair dishevelled, with their weapons thrown down or with their body disfigured and shivering under fear, surrender themselves. After the captured fort is cleared of the enemy's partisans and is well guarded by the conqueror's men both within and without, he should make his victorious entry into it.
Having thus seized the territory of the enemy close to his country, the conqueror should direct his attention to that of the madhyama king; this being taken, he should catch hold of that of the neutral king. This is the first way to conquer the world. In the absence of the madhyama and neutral kings, he should, in virtue of his own excellent qualities, win the hearts of his enemy's subjects, and then direct his attention to other remote enemies. This is the second way. In the absence of a Circle of States (to be conquered), he should conquer his friend or his enemy by hemming each between his own force and that of his enemy or that of his friend Kautilya's Arthashastra respectively. This is the third way.
Or he may first put down an almost invincible immediate enemy. Having doubled his power by this victory, he may go against a second enemy; having trebled his power by this victory, he may attack a third. This is the fourth way to conquer the world.
Having conquered the earth with its people of distinct castes and divisions of religious life, he should enjoy it by governing it in accordance with the duties prescribed to kings.
* Intrigue, spies, winning over the enemy's people, siege, and assault are the five means to capture a fort.
[Thus ends Chapter IV, "The Operation of a Siege and Storming a Fort," in Book XIII, "Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress," of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the hundred and forty-fourth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER V. RESTORATION OF PEACE IN A CONQUERED COUNTRY.
THE expedition which the conqueror has to undertake may be of two kinds: in wild tracts or in single villages and the like.
The territory which he acquires may be of three kinds: that which is newly acquired, that which is recovered (from an usurper) and that which is inherited.
Having acquired a new territory, he should cover the enemy's vices with his own virtues, and the enemy's virtues by doubling his own virtues, by strict observance of his own duties, by attending to Kautilya's Arthashastra his works, by bestowing rewards, by remitting taxes, by giving gifts, and by bestowing honours. He should follow the friends and leaders of the people. He should give rewards, as promised, to those who deserted the enemy for his cause; he should also offer rewards to them as often as they render help to him; for whoever fails to fullfil his promises becomes untrustworthy both to his own and his enemy's people. Whoever acts against the will of the people will also become unreliable. He should adopt the same mode of life, the same dress, language, and customs as those of the people. He should follow the people in their faith with which they celebrate their national, religious and congregational festivals or amusements. His spies should often bring home to the mind of the leaders of provinces, villages, castes, and corporations the hurt inflicted on the enemies in contrast with the high esteem and favour with which they are treated by the conqueror, who finds his own prosperity in theirs. He should please them by giving gifts, remitting taxes, and providing for their security. He should always hold religious life in high esteem. Learned men, orators, charitable and brave persons should be favoured with gifts of land and money and with remission of taxes. He should release all the prisoners, and afford help to miserable, helpless, and diseased persons. He should prohibit the slaughter of animals for half a month during the period of Chdturmdsya (from July to September), for four nights during the full moon, and for a night on the day of the birth-star of the conqueror or of the national star. He should also prohibit the slaughter of females and young ones (yonibdlavadham) as well as castration. Having abolished those customs or transactions which he might consider either as injurious to the growth of his revenue and army or as unrighteous, he should establish righteous transactions. He should compel born thieves as well as the Mlechchhas to change their habitations often and reside in many places. Such of his chief officers in charge of the forts, country parts, and the army, and ministers and priests as are found to have been in conspiracy with the enemy should also be compelled to Kautilya's Arthashastra have their habitations in different places on the borders of the enemy's country. Such of his men as are capable to hurt him, but are convinced of their own fall with that of their master, should be pacified by secret remonstrance. Such renegades of his own country as are captured along with the enemy should be made to reside in remote corners. Whoever of the enemy's family is capable to wrest the conquered territory and is taking shelter in a wild tract on the border, often harassing the conqueror, should be provided with a sterile portion of territory or with a fourth part of a fertile tract on the condition of supplying to the conqueror a fixed amount of money and a fixed number of troops, in raising which he may incur the displeasure of the people and may be destroyed by them. Whoever has caused excitement to the people or incurred their displeasure should be removed and placed in a dangerous locality.
Having recovered a lost territory, he should hide those vices of his, owing to which he lost it, and increase those virtues by which he recovered it.
With regard to the inherited territory, he should cover the vices of his father, and display his own virtues.
* He should initiate the observance of all those customs, which, though righteous and practised by others, are not observed in his own country, and give no room for the practice of whatever is unrighteous, though observed by others.
[Thus ends Chapter V, "Restoration of Peace in a Conquered Country," in Book XIII, "Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress," of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the hundred and forty-fifth chapter from the beginning. With this ends the thirteenth Book "Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress," of the Arthasdstra of Kautilya.]
Kautilya's Arthashastra Book XIV, "Secret Means" CHAPTER I. MEANS TO INJURE AN ENEMY.
IN order to protect the institution of the four castes, such measures as are treated of in secret science shall be applied against the wicked. Through the instrumentality of such men or women of Mlechchha class as can put on disguises, appropriate to different countries, arts, or professions, or as can put on the appearance of a hump-backed, dwarfish, or short-sized person, or of a dumb, deaf, idiot, or blind person, kdlakuta and other manifold poisons should be administered in the diet and other physical enjoyments of the wicked. Spies lying in wait or living as inmates (in the same house) may make use of weapons on occasions of royal sports or musical and other entertainments. Spies, under the disguise of night-walkers (rdtrichdri) or of fire -keepers (agni-jivi) may set fire (to the houses of the wicked).
The powder (prepared from the carcass) of animals such as chitra (?), bheka (frog), kaundinyaka (?), krikana (perdix sylvatika), panchakushtha (?), and satapadi, (centipede); or of animals such as uchchitinga (crab), kambali (?), krikaldsa (lizard) with the powder of the bark of satakanda (Phyalis Flexuosa); or of animals such as grihagaulika (a small house-lizard), andhdhika (a blind snake), krakanthaka (a kind of partridge), putikita (a stinking insect), and gomdrika (?) combined with the juice of bhallataka (Semecarpus Anacardium), and valgaka (?);— the smoke caused by burning the above powders causes instantaneous death.
* Any of the (above) insects may be heated with a black snake and priyangu (panic seed) and reduced to powder. This mixture, Kautilya's Arthashastra when burnt, causes instantaneous death.
The powder prepared from the roots of dhdmdrgava (lufta foetida) and ydtudhdna (?) mixed with the powder of the flower of bhalldtaka (Semecarpus Anacardium) causes, when administered, death in the course of half a month. The root of vydghdta (casia fistula) reduced to powder with the flower of bhalldtaka (Semecarpus A nacardium) mixed with the essence of an insect (kita) causes, when administered, death in the course of a month.
As much as a kald (16th of a tola) to men; twice as much to mules and horses; and four times as much to elephants and camels.
The smoke caused by burning the powder of satakardama (?), uchchitinga (crab), karavira (nerium odorum), katutumbi (a kind of bitter gourd), and fish together with the chaff of the grains of madana (?) and kodrava (paspalam scrobiculatum), or with the chaff of the seeds of hastikarna (castor oil tree) and paldsa (butea frondosa) destroys animal life as far as it is carried off by the wind.
The smoke caused by burning the powder of putikita (a stinking insect), fish, katutumbi (a kind of bitter gourd), the bark of satakardama (?), and indragopa (the insect cochineal), or the powder of putikita, kshudrdrdla (the resin of the plant, shorea robusta), and hemaviddri (?) mixed with the powder of the hoof and horn of a goat causes blindness.
The smoke caused by burning the leaves of putikaranja (guilandina bonducella), yellow arsenic, realgar, the seeds of gunja (abrus precatorius), the chaff of the seeds of red cotton, dsphota (a plant, careya arborea), khdcha (salt?), and the dung and urine of a cow causes blindness.
The smoke caused by burning the skin of a snake, the dung of a cow and a horse, and the head of a blind snake causes blindness.
Kautilya's Arthashastra The smoke caused by burning the powder made of the mixture of the dung and urine of pigeons, frogs, flesh-eating animals, elephants, men, and boars, the chaff and powder of barley mixed with kdsisa (green sulphate of iron), rice, the seeds of cotton, kutaja (nerium antidysentericum), and kosdtaki (lufta pentandra), cow's urine, the root of bhdndi (hydroeotyle asiatica), the powder of nimba (nimba mend), sigru (hyperanthera morunga), phanirjaka (a kind of tulasi plant), kshibapiluka (ripe coreya arborea), and bhanga (a common intoxicating drug), the skin of a snake and fish, and the powder of the nails and tusk of an elephant, all mixed with the chaff of madana and kodravd (paspalam scrobiculatum), or with the chaff of the seeds of hastikarna (castor oil tree) and paldsa (butea frondosa) causes instantaneous death wherever the smoke is carried off by the wind.
When a man who has kept his eyes secure with the application of ointment and medicinal water burns, on the occasion of the commencement of a battle and the assailing of forts, the roots of kali (tragia involucrata), kushtha (costus), nada (a kind of reed) and satdvari (asperagus racemosus), or the powder of (the skin of) a snake, the tail of a peacock, krikana (a kind of partridge), and panchakushtha (?), together with the chaff as previously described or with wet or dry chaff, the smoke caused thereby destroys the eyes of all animals.
The ointment prepared by mixing the excretion of sdrikd (maina), kapota (pigeon), baka (crane), and baldka (a kind of small crane) with the milk of kdkshiva (hyperanthera morunga), piluka (a species of careya arborea) and snuhi (euphorbia) causes blindness and poisons water.
The mixture of yavaka (a kind of barley), the root of sdla (achyrantes triandria), the fruit of madana (dattura plant?), the leaves of jdti (nutmeg?), and the urine of a man mixed with the Kautilya's Arthashastra powder of the root of plaksha (fig tree), and viddri (liquorice), as well as the essence of the decoction of musta (a kind of poison), udumbara (glomerous fig tree), and kodrava (paspalam scrobiculatum) or with the decoction of hastikarna (castor oil tree) and paldsa (butea frondosa) is termed the juice of madana (madanayoga).
The mixture of the powders of sringi (atis betula), gaumevriksha (?), kantakdra (solatium xanthocarpum), and mayurapadi (?), the powder of gunja seeds, Idnguli (jusseina repens), vishamulika (?), and ingudi (heart-pea), and the powder of karavira (oleander), akshipiluka (careya arborea), arka plant, and mrigamdrini (?) combined with the decoction of madana and kodrava or with that of hastikarna and paldsa is termed madana mixture (madanayoga).
The combination of (the above two) mixtures poisons grass and water when applied to them.
The smoke caused by burning the mixture of the powders of krikana (a kind of partridge), krikalasa (lizard), grihagaulika (a small house-lizard) and andhdhika (a blind snake) destroys the eyes and causes madness.
The (smoke caused by burning the) mixture of krikalasa and grihagaulika causes leprosy.
The smoke caused by burning the same mixture together with the entrails of chitrabheka (a kind of frog of variegated colour), and madhu (celtis orientalist) causes gonorrhoea.
The same mixture, wetted with human blood causes consumption.
The powder of dushivisha (?), madana (dattura plant?), and Kautilya's Arthashastra kodrava (paspalam scrobiculatum) destroys the tongue.
The mixture of the powder of mdtrivdhaka (?), jaluka (leech), the tail of a peacock, the eyes of a frog, and pilukd (careya arborea) causes the disease known as vishuchika.
The mixture of panchakushtha (?), kaundinyaka (?), rdjavriksha (cassia fistula), and madhupushpa (bassia latifolia) and madhu (honey?) causes fever.
The mixture prepared from the powder of the knot of the tongue of bhdja (?), and nakula (mongoose) reduced to a paste with the milk of a she-donkey causes both dumbness and deafness.
The proportion of a dose to bring on the desired deformities in men and animals in the course of a fortnight or a month is as laid down before.
Mixtures become very powerful when, in the case of drugs, they are prepared by the process of decoction; and in the case of animals, by the process of making powders; or in all cases by the process of decoction.
Whoever is pierced by the arrow prepared from the grains of sdlmali (bombax heptaphyllum) and viddri (liquorice) reduced to powder and mixed with the powder of mulavatsandbha (a kind of poison) and smeared over with the blood of chuchundari (musk-rat) bites some ten other persons who in their turn bite others.
The mixture prepared from the flowers of bhalldtaka (semecarpus anacardium), ydtudhdna (?), dhdmdrgava (achyranthes aspera), and bdna (sal tree) mixed with the powder of eld (large cardamom), kdkshi (red aluminous earth), guggulu Kautilya's Arthashastra (bdellium), and hdldhala (a kind of poison) together with the blood of a goat and a man causes biting madness.
When half a dharana of this mixture together with flour and oil-cakes is thrown into water of a reservoir measuring a hundred bows in length, it vitiates the whole mass of water; all the fish swallowing or touching this mixture become poisonous; and whoever drinks or touches this water will be poisoned.
No sooner does a person condemned to death pull out from the earth an alligator or iguana (godhd) which, with three or five handfuls of both red and white mustard seeds, is entered into the earth than he dies at its sight.
When, on the days of the stars of krittikd or bharani and following the method of performing fearful rites, an oblation with a black cobra emitting froth at the shock of lightning or caught hold of by means of the sticks of a tree struck by lightning and perfumed is made into the fire, that fire continues to burn unquenchably.
* An oblation of honey shall be made into the fire fetched from the house of a blacksmith; of spirituous liquor into the fire brought from the house of a vintner; of clarified butter into the fire of a sacrificer (?); * Of a garland into the fire kept by a sacrificer with one wife; of mustard seeds into the fire kept by an adulterous woman; of curds into the fire kept during the birth of a child; of rice-grain into the fire of a sacrificer; * Of flesh into the fire kept by a chandala; of human flesh into the fire burning in cremation grounds; an oblation of the serum of the flesh of a goat and a man shall be made by means of a sacrificial ladle into the fire which is made of all the above fires; * Repeating the mantras addressed to the fire, an oblation of the wooden pieces of rdjavriksha (cassia fistula) into the same fire.
Kautilya's Arthashastra This fire will unquenchably burn deluding the eyes of the enemies.
Salutation to Aditi, salutation to Anumati, salutation to Sarasvati and salutation to the Sun; oblation to Agni, oblation to soma, oblation to the earth, and oblation to the atmosphere.
[Thus ends Chapter I, "Means to Injure an Enemy," in Book XIV, "Secret Means," of 'the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. End of the hundred and forty- sixth chapter from the beginning.]
CHAPTER II. WONDERFUL AND DELUSIVE CONTRIVANCES.
A DOSE of the powder of sirisha (mimosa sirisa), udumbara (glomerous fig-tree), and sami (acacia suma) mixed with clarified butter, renders fasting possible for half a month; the scum prepared from the mixture of the root of kaseruka (a kind of water-creeper), utpala (costus), and sugar-cane mixed with bisa (water-lily), durva (grass), milk, and clarified butter enables a man to fast for a month.