Governing Ideas of Confuscius and Ancient India

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There have been several ways of governing lands and people throughout history. Governing techniques have continuously evolved around the world for years. Past histories and governments play a role in developing present nation’s governments and their political stabilities. There were three distinct governing techniques and ideas that widely shaped India and Asia’s Southeastern region. A comparison can be made on the ideas of Kautalya, Ashoka, and Confucius to help understand this region’s past and present governing beliefs. During the early periods of Indian history the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, Kautalya, created the Mauryan Dynasty by facing Alexander the Great from Greece and conquering large areas of northern India. In this newly acquired state he instilled strict ideas of how the land and its people should be governed. Kautalya believed that the king had absolute power and gave little thought to morality and altruism. The sole goal for the land was material gain and profit for the state at the people’s expense. The idea was to “bestow onto cultivators only such favor and remission as will tend to swell the treasury, and shall avoid such as deplete it” (Kautalya para 2). The king was to use his subjects by any means necessary to achieve his goals whether personal or commercial and believed he owed them nothing in return (McKay para 2). During this time the caste system was put into place and divided the nation into distinct classes. The lands were also divided into smaller areas to be governed by set officials so that the king could delegate power more efficiently. Not only were they given responsibilities to uphold the state of the nation, but spies and secret agents were also introduced into these governing practices as a scare tactic for the people. They frequently used “merchant spies pretending to be his disciples” to trick the
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