RAS question
The Arthashastra of Kautilya was rediscovered in 1905 by:
Correct answer: (B) R. Shamasastry.
R. Shamasastry rediscovered Kautilya's Arthashastra in 1905 from a palm-leaf manuscript.
Explanation
R. Shamasastry is the answer because the rediscovery of Kautilya's Arthashastra is tied to the manuscript that reached the Mysore Government Oriental Library, where he worked as curator. The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses monograph records that the full text was discovered in 1905 and identifies Dr R. Shamasastry as the scholar connected with it. It also records that an unnamed pandit from Tanjore district handed over a manuscript, with a commentary by Bhattasvamin, to the Mysore Government Oriental Library, and that Shamasastry translated the work from this manuscript. The standard chronology then follows: he published the text in 1909 and its English translation in 1915, making this a landmark rediscovery for ancient Indian history.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Max Mueller is associated here with editing the Vedas, not with the 1905 rediscovery of Kautilya's Arthashastra.
- (C) A.L. Basham was a historian, but the rediscovery described in the question is specifically attributed to R. Shamasastry.
- (D) John Marshall was an ASI Director, whereas the Arthashastra manuscript rediscovery at Mysore is linked to Shamasastry.
Concept
This tests the historiography of ancient Indian sources, especially how texts used for reconstructing Mauryan administration entered modern scholarship. RAS repeats such questions because source discovery, authorship, and publication history are core to ancient Indian history preparation.