Kautilya's Arthashastra: A Neglected Precursor to Classical Economics

This paper demonstrates that Kautilya, a great Indian Philosopher-statesman and contemporary of Aristotle, and whose work was lost for more than 1400 years, anticipated classical economic thought by some 2,000 years in the areas of international trade, taxation and a labour theory of value. This aspect of Kautilya's philosophy of government has been overlooked by historians of economic thought and we believe that his contributions should receive appropriate and overdue recognition.