Includes bibliographical references and index.

The royal priests and the black magic of the Atharva Veda -- The origin of state and early political speculation in ancient India -- The origin of Arthashastra tradition -- The Lokayata philosophy and the early Arthashastra tradition -- The Arthashastra teachers -- Political thought of early Arthastastra thinkers -- Vijayan Bala and Apaddharma -- Ethics and politics in the Arthashastra tradition -- Supremacy of politics.

"Revisiting the Political Thought of Ancient India: Pre-Kautilyan Arthashastra Tradition rediscovers the political ideas of the original and celebrated schools of thought in ancient India--early Arthashastra and Pre-Kautilyan traditions. This book throws light on hitherto not very well-known aspects of political ideas in ancient India, which flourished during the 5th and 4th centuries before Christ. Kautilya's Arthashastra is a major text on ancient Indian political thought, wherein he cited views of a number of Arthashastra teachers who had written on political science. Unfortunately, their writings are not available today; only their views are found scattered in different texts. This book brings together these views to prepare a coherent account of their political ideas and reconstructs the pre-Kautilyan Arthashastra tradition with the help of available sources"--