Marching after Proclamation of War

Marching after Proclamation of War, proclaims that the king under certain conditions shall be free to wage a war against the enemy. Chapter IV of Book VII in Arthashastra mentions that whenever the king finds that his enemy`s army has fallen into troubles, in which the troubles of his enemy can by no means be remedied, and as his enemy`s subjects are ill treated, impoverished and become effeminate and disunited among themselves, are prepared to desert their master, when his enemy`s army had fallen victim to the natural calamities or have been looted by thieves and roadside robbers which has forced them to loose their youth as well as defensive power, it shall as such allow the king to wage a war against such an enemy.

Marching after Proclamation of War further claims that a king can wage a war against his enemy if he fortunate enough to have powerful allies and powerful friends in the rear, both with brave and loyal subjects, while the reverse is the case with his enemy both in the front as well as in the rear, and when he finds his friend to hold his frontal enemy in check and his rear ally to check his rear enemy at bay he shall then confidently think of waging a war against his enemy. Thirdly, when a king finds it possible to achieve a result of victory single handed in a very short time then he may march against his frontal enemies after proclaiming war against his rear enemies, otherwise he should march after making peace. On a contrary when a king finds it difficult to confront an enemy single handed, in such condition he should make an expedition with a combination of the entire inferior, superior as well as equally power kings.

Marching after Proclamation of War as such mentions that all the wars must have a positive or negative result. A war is desirable only when the end is profitable and every king involved shall have same share of spoils which should be fixed .Arthashastra further claims that when the object aimed at is of definite nature, then the share of spoils should be fixed; but when the manifold is complex and no fixed share is possible then no such combination of friends is possible. The king may request his allies to participate or help him but that would be voluntary. Share of profit in proportion to the strength of the army is of the first kind while share equal to the effort made is the second type and share allotted in proportion to the profit earned or allotted according to the capital investment is the third type.

Thus, Marching after Proclamation of War reiterates the steps taken by the kings of Circle of States who shall decide the future of his kingdom by choosing the kind of relationship to be taken by the state. While a state can remain silent and maintain neutrality it on certain situations can settle with wars for the wellbeing of his people.