Prelims 2022 · Q60
HardAccording 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?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
UPSC's official answer: (b) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam
Also defensible: (d)
- Statements 2 and 3 are undisputed: 'if a female slave bore her master a son, not only was she legally free but the child was entitled to the legal status of the master's son' (NIOS, following Romila Thapar).
- Statement 1 has textual support. Shamasastry's translation of Book III, chapter 13 reads 'any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work', and the NIOS textbook says a man could become a slave 'as a result of a judicial punishment'. On that reading all three are correct, option (d).
- UPSC's key leaves 1 out, and the text supports that too: Kautilya lays down that 'never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery', lists slaves as born, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold or captured in war, and Kangle's critical edition reads 3.13.18 as a man sentenced to a fine working it off, not as enslavement.
- So the answer turns on whether working off a court fine counts as slavery: the historians' summary says yes (d); the text's own categories say no (b).
UPSC's key counts only statements 2 and 3; historians' accounts and Shamasastry's translation support statement 1 too, giving (d). In the exam, go with (b), and treat 'slavery by judicial punishment' as a historian's gloss rather than Kautilya's own rule.
- NIOS (Ministry of Education), Indian Culture and Heritage, Ch 19 Indian Social Structure ↗“The 'Arthashastra' states that a man could be a slave by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of a judicial punishment.”
- Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII, R. Shamasastry's translation (Internet Archive text) ↗“Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work.”
- Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII, R. Shamasastry's translation: no slavery for an Arya ↗“But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery.”
This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.
Statements 2 and 3 are correct: a female slave who bore her master a son was legally free, and the child took the legal status of the master's son. UPSC's key does not count statement 1: Kautilya lays down that an Arya cannot be reduced to slavery, lists slaves as those born in the house, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold or captured in war, and treats a man sentenced to a fine as one who works the fine off, not as a slave.
- ✗ 1. The Arthashastra (Book III, ch. 13) says 'never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery'; a man pledged to raise money for a fine or decree must be redeemed, and one sentenced to a fine works it off (3.13.18). Judicial punishment is not among the text's own categories of slaves: born in the house, inherited, bought, pledged, self-sold, captured in war.
- ✓ 2. If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free.
- ✓ 3. Such a child was entitled to the legal status of the master's son.
Remember · Arthashastra on slaves (dasa): no slavery for an Arya; a slave-mother who bore her master a son became free, and her son took the legal status of the master's son.
Sources
- NIOS (Ministry of Education), Indian Culture and Heritage, Ch 19 Indian Social Structure ↗ · reference work “if a female slave bore her master a son, not only was she legally free but the child was entitled to the … The 'Arthashastra' states that a man could be a slave by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of a judicial punishment.”
- Kautilya's Arthashastra, Book III ch. XIII (R. Shamasastry's translation, Internet Archive text): no slavery for an Arya; pledging for fines must be redeemed ↗ · reference work “But never shall an Arya be subjected to slavery. But if in order to tide over family troubles, to find money for fines or court decrees, or to recover the (confiscated) household implements, the life of an Arya is mortgaged, they (his kinsmen) shall as soon as possible redeem him (from bondage) … Any person who has been enslaved for fines or court decrees (dandapranitah) shall earn the amount by work. An Arya, made captive in war shall for his freedom pay a certain amount proportional to the dangerous work done at the time of his capture, or half the amount.”
- Kautilya, Arthashastra 3.13.18-19 in R.P. Kangle's critical edition (GRETIL e-text): a man sentenced to a fine works it off; a war captive is freed by work or half his price ↗ · reference work “kaz03.13.18/ daṇḍa.praṇītaḥ karmaṇā daṇḍam upanayet // kaz03.13.19/ ārya.prāṇo dhvaja.āhṛtaḥ karma.kāla.anurūpeṇa mūlya.ardhena vā vimucyeta //”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·