UPSC Prelims 2022 Q60: Slavery in Kautilya's Arthashastra — Explained
According to Kautilya's Arthashastra, which of the following are correct?
1. A person could be a slave as a result of a judicial punishment.
2. If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free.
3. If a son born to a female slave was fathered by her master, the son was entitled to the legal status of the master's son.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Book III, Chapter 13 of the Arthashastra, 'Rules regarding slaves and labourers', names a class of slave called dandapranita. This was a person enslaved because of a fine or a court decree. In Shamasastry's translation, such a person 'shall earn the amount by work', so the bondage lasted until the penalty was worked off. So a court's punishment could make a person a slave.
- 2: correct — The same chapter says that when a master fathers a child on his female slave, 'both the child and its mother shall at once be recognised as free'. Freedom came by law, from the birth itself. The master did not have to choose to release her. If the mother stayed in service to earn her living, the text frees her brother and sister instead.
- 3: correct — The rule that frees the mother also frees the child she bore to the master. The official key reads this as the son receiving the legal standing of the master's son, not the status of a slave born in the house (udaradasa). A slave's child would normally stay a slave. A child fathered by the master was treated as the master's free child.
How to eliminate
This question cannot be solved by elimination. All three statements are plain factual claims with no 'only', 'always' or 'never' to give one away. The option list does not help either, because every two-statement combination and 'all three' are offered. Two pieces of background reduce the guesswork. First, Kautilya's slavery rules are known for being relatively humane: an Arya could not be made a slave permanently, slaves could own and inherit property, and they could buy back their freedom. Rules that protect a slave woman and her child (Statements 2 and 3) fit that pattern. Second, the Arthashastra is a law and administration manual, so a penal route into slavery (Statement 1) is what you would expect to find. The facts to remember: dandapranita means enslaved by judicial punishment, and a child fathered by the master frees both the child and the mother.
Know more
Slavery in the Arthashastra (Book III, Chapter 13)
Kautilya treats the slave (dasa) as a legal person with rights. He does not treat the slave as mere property. The texts list several ways a person could become a slave.
| Type of slave | How the person became a slave |
|---|---|
| Dhvajahrita | Captured in war |
| Atmavikrayin | Sold himself |
| Udaradasa | Born to a slave in the household |
| Ahitaka | Mortgaged (pledged) by kin |
| Dandapranita | Enslaved by a fine or court decree |
Key protections in the chapter (Shamasastry translation)
- "Never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery." If kin pledged an Arya in a family crisis or to pay a fine, they had to redeem him quickly. Mlecchas could sell or pledge their own children without committing a crime.
- A slave could keep what he earned and what he inherited from his father. When a slave died, his property went to his kinsmen. The master took it only if there were no kinsmen.
- A slave regained freedom by paying a ransom equal to the price he had been sold for.
- A master was fined for making a slave under eight years old, with no relatives, do degrading work against his will, or for selling or pledging such a child abroad.
- If the master fathered a child on a female slave, the mother and child were freed. If the mother stayed in service for her living, her brother and sister were freed instead.
Context. Ancient texts use the compound dasa-karmakara (slaves and hired workers) for the dependent labour force. The Arthashastra puts slaves in one chapter (3.13) and wage labourers in the next (3.14). Upinder Singh and other scholars warn that these are prescriptive rules. They show what the law wanted. They do not prove how slaves were actually treated.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Dasa-karmakara: Defines the 'slaves and hired workers' category, the dependent labour force whose legal status these three statements test.
- Kautilya: Tells you who wrote the Arthashastra, the text whose rules on slavery this question is built on.