Kautilyan Antecedents of the Westphalian Order

Most accounts of the state appear to assume that it is a relatively modern phenomenon originating in Europe during the transition from the Middle Ages through the Early Modern to the Modern period. Particular significance is usually attached to the Treaties of Westphalia in 1648. Such accounts stress the consolidation of royal power; a shift from lineage-based sovereigns to a broader sense of the King's realm and the legal concept of sovereignty; the decline of competition from pope and emperor; the establishment of defined and relatively secure borders; the creation of a national bureaucracy, legal system, army, and markets; the gradual appearance of representative legislature; the rise of nationalism and its linkage to the "nation-state"; and the evolution of a genuine welfare state.The central thesis of this book is that the traditional Eurocentric story of the origin of the state overlooks the fact that many characteristics usually associated with the state and related political philosophy existed in other pre-Westphalian polities. The case in point in this work is the Kautilyan State which prevailed over most of the Indian subcontinent from 323-185 BC.