Portrait of Kautilya
Other · Thinker or writer · From history

Kautilya

Indian statecraft adviser, c. 4th century BCE

Credited with the Arthashastra, a manual of statecraft covering taxation, spies, war and welfare, and said to have helped found the Mauryan Empire.

Kautilya sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly free market and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly interventionist on interventionism, strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority and strongly strength-first on war and peace.

Read more about Kautilya on Wikipedia →

Where Kautilya sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomySlightly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionLeaning religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismStrongly interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Kautilya

Augustus First Roman Emperor, 27 BCE to 14 CE98%Ariel Sharon Prime Minister of Israel, 2001 to 200698%Elizabeth I Queen of England, 1558 to 160397%Marcus Aurelius Roman Emperor, 161 to 18097%Winston Churchill UK Prime Minister, 1940 to 1945 and 1951 to 195597%Theresa May Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 2016 to 201997%Richard Nixon US President, 1969 to 197497%Henry Kissinger US National Security Adviser and Secretary of State, 1923 to 202397%

People furthest from Kautilya

Emma Goldman Russian-born anarchist and writer, 1869 to 19401%John Lennon British musician and peace activist, 1940 to 19802%Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 19102%Murray Bookchin American social theorist, 1921 to 20062%

Political views closest to Kautilya

Hawkish realismSees the world as a contest between states, where military strength and alliances secure…97%NeoconservatismPairs free markets and traditional values with an assertive, democracy-promoting foreign…97%MilitarismTreats military strength and martial values as central to national life.94%One-nation conservatismA paternalist conservatism holding that the better off owe duties to the poor and to…93%

Read more about Kautilya

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Biographies of KautilyaBooks on hawkish realism

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Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions. Including a person here is for study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.