Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Chanakya" in Simple English language version.
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In the 4th century BCE, Kautilya the chief minister of Emperor Chandragupta, referred in his book on the art of government, the Arthashastra, to the low morals of players and advised the municipal authorities not to build houses in the midst of their villages for actors, acrobats, and mummers.
Kautilya, who was also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, was born into a family of Brahmins... his writing displayed an understanding of Greek and Persian texts, and he was well-versed in medicine, astrology, and military strategy.
His agent in effecting the revolution was Chanakya, also called Kautilya or Vishnugupta, a wily Brahmin, who became his minister.
One of the individuals shaken by the debacle at Alexander's hands in northwest India was Chanakya, or Kautilya, a most highly regarded scholar at Takshashila University (near Rawalpindi).
Author of the Arthashastra, the ancient Indian textbook of political science; a notoriously amoral author, whose nickname, Kautilya actually means "Crookedness." He was also called Chanakya and Vishnugupta, and was said to have been prime minister to the emperor Chandragupta Maurya, in the third century B.C.E.
...so also was Chanakya, (known also as Kautilya) the minister of Chandragupta Maurya, who reduced the Nanda dynasty of Magadha to ashes.
In c.324/21 BC, with the help of Chanakya sometimes known as Kautilya an experienced brahmana statesman to whom is ascribed a comprehensive book on political economy and statecraft, the Arthashastra, he overthrew the Nanda king of Magadha.
Perhaps the most esoteric work was the Arthasastra of Kautilya (Chanakya, believed to be prime minister of Chandragupta in southern India, circa 300 B.C.), translated by Shamasastry (1909).
Arthashastra, sometimes translated as the "science of wealth", credited to have been written by the Indian philosopher Chanakya around 300 BC, is a treatise on economics, policy and military strategy.
He was advised by Kautilya (also called Chanakya) a very able but unscrupulous Brahman, to whom is attributed the Arthasastra, a guide to statecraft.
The Arthasastra or 'Manual of Politics' which may possibly be the real work of Chanakya or Kautilya and therefore written about 300 B.C.
The Arthashastra is a manual on statecraft allegedly written by Kautilya, also known as Chanakya... Both books describe politics as a ruthless game of power, yet the Arthashastra is by far the more cynical.
This Vishnugupta is believed to be the same as Kautilya Chanakya, the famed author of the Arthashastra, among the earliest and most brilliant treatises in the world on statecraft and empire building. He is also believed to be the wily but moralistic prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya.
This period (c. 320-185 B.C.) produced the Machiavellian system of statecraft associated with the name of the minister Kautilya, the reputed author of the famous Arthashastra... Kautalya, alternatively known as Kautilya and Chanakya, was the chief minister of Chandragupta Maurya and a work on political economy, the Arthasastra, is attributed to him.
Such departures were made since the sixth century BC... by the radically new, secular pragmatic theory of the state and government contained in the Arthashastra, attributed to Kautilya the mentor and minister of Chandragupta Maurya (с. 321-298 BC), the founder of the Mauryan empire.
