|| 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒚𝒂 : 𝑨 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑨𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 || -

|| 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒚𝒂 : 𝑨 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑨𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 || -

Chanakya's original name was Vishnugupta. He was born in 350 BCE in Pataliputra (modern day Patna, also some believe that he was born in South India), the capital of the Magadha kingdom. Chanakya was born into a Brahmin family. He was the son of Acharya Chanak who was a teacher. He derives his name ‘Chanakya’ from his father’s name ‘Chanak’. Kautilya was the name given because of his gotra ‘Kotil’. - He was a teacher (guru) at Takshashila University, one of the earliest universities in the world. Many princes and kings used to come to Takshashila for education. - Chanakya was a great alchemist too. Folktales tell us that he converted a peak of a mountain into the GOLD by using some chemicals - Chanakya authored the ancient Indian political treatise called the Arthashastra. It covers topics like statecraft, economic policy, military strategy, espionage and laws. - He established and implemented a spy network to monitor corrupt officials and gather intelligence. This was crucial for governing a vast empire efficiently. - He made an army of females so as to protect Chandragupta. Those women were called ‘Vish Kanyas’ and were capable of killing people. Even a kiss from these females were venomous. - Chanakyaa develop early economic policies which stabilized taxation, promoted international trade, and boosted agriculture. He emphasized state control and investment in economic development. - Legend has it that Chanakya had the ancient university of Takshashila burned down because he was insulted by a teacher there. He helped rebuild it later. - It is believed that Chanakya gave small amounts of poison to Chandragupta Maurya through his meal to make him immune against the poisonous attacks of enemies. - One day, it so happened that Chandragupta shared his food with his queen Durdhara who was expecting her child and was 9 months pregnant. She died due to the poison But Chanakya saved the baby by cutting the belly of the queen. - Some say that the retreat of Alexander was strategically planned by Chanakya by arising distrust among the comrades of Alexander. It is said that after Porus bravery it was Chanakya who successfully demonstrated its fear in Alexander’s army thus making him retreat.