Q1.
Kauṭilya says, “A king shall increase his power by promoting the welfare of his people, for power comes from the countryside which is the source of all economic activity. [The king] shall show special favours to those in the countryside who do things which benefit the people, such as building embankments or road bridges, beautifying villages, or helping to protect them.” Why do you think it was important to take special care of the countryside? (Hint: Think back to what you have learnt at the beginning of this chapter)
Answer
Because the countryside was where the empire's power actually came from. Follow the chain the chapter builds at the start:
fertile countryside → surplus food grain → feeds soldiers, and frees people for crafts
crafts + farm produce → goods to trade → more trade → more taxes for the treasury
full treasury → pays the army, the officials, the roads → the empire holds together
crafts + farm produce → goods to trade → more trade → more taxes for the treasury
full treasury → pays the army, the officials, the roads → the empire holds together
Six specific reasons:
- Food. An army marches on grain. The chapter says two crops were sown a year, famines were rare and granaries were well stocked — that is what makes long campaigns possible.
- Tax revenue. Agriculture “was an important source of revenue for the empire”. No countryside, no treasury.
- Manpower. Soldiers, porters, cart-drivers and artisans all came from villages.
- Raw materials. Timber, herbs, elephants, iron ore and minerals came from the forests and hills around the farming lands, as Ira points out on page 86.
- Loyalty. A contented countryside does not rebel and does not welcome an invader. Resentment in the provinces is listed at the end of the chapter as a cause of an empire's decline.
- Public works multiply wealth. Embankments store water, road bridges keep trade moving, protection keeps villagers from fleeing — each one raises next year's revenue. Rewarding the villagers who build them is the cheapest investment a king can make.
Why it happens: Kauṭilya is not being kind here; he is being practical. He puts it exactly the right way round — “A king shall increase his power by promoting the welfare of his people.” Welfare is not a favour the king does the village; it is the source of the king's own strength. His central philosophy says the same: “In the happiness of his subjects lies the king's happiness; in their welfare his welfare.”
Did you know? The Sohagaura copper plate inscription (4th–3rd century BCE, Uttar Pradesh) records the setting up of a granary against famine — a real, physical example of exactly this policy.