Considerations about the Combination of Powers

Considerations about the Combination of Powers, as included in Chapter V of Book VII in Arthashastra, mentions once the enemy located and the causes of war and peace reassessed, the weak king should unite with the powerful and righteous king and form a combination of powers which shall include a king with considerable power which means one is strong enough to capture and put down his enemy; while a king of righteous character means the one who is supposed to do what he has promised to do, irrespective of good or bad result, shall all unite to fight against the common enemy. Kautilya mentions that while it is better to march with the king of equal power as with the superior power there are chances of being mislead. Kautilya suggests that it is always advisable to march with the kings of lesser power for the conqueror can depute them to carry out any two different work and keep them under his control as when the desired ends will be achieved the desired king shall himself retire to the satisfaction of the superior while in case of the superior he is free to deceive his inferiors and catch them in between according to the desire of the superior king`s wishes.

Considerations about the Combination of Powers further suggests that till the discharge of the allies the conqueror should keep on assessing the nature of his allies particularly the king who is usually of bad character but for the present is observing good conduct . Such ally usually bears a tendency to deceive at the midst of the war, such king needs to be scrutinised by suddenly converting position at a critical time. In case of friendly allies, though actuated with the feelings of true friendship, the conqueror has the reason to fear his ally, though of equal powers, when the latter is successful on his side, he is likely to change his attitude towards the conqueror even if he is superior. An ally of superior power should never be relied upon as prosperity changes the mind of the ally; even with little or no share in the spoils the superior king cab return at any time with almost nil obligations and still remain contented and deceive the conqueror at any time he wishes.

Considerations about the Combination of Powers as such claims that after being satisfied with the victory over the enemy the conqueror is supposed to discharge his allies and assure them that they are satisfied with their share in the spoils and ascertain that he is not reconquered by these allies and the relationship ends up in a healthy future.

Thus, Considerations about the Combination of Powers ascertains various methodology of war fare which has been mentioned in Arthashastra by Kautilya.