Q. According 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?:

[A] 1 and 2 only

[B] 2 and 3 only

[C] 1 and 3 only

[D] 1, 2 and 3

Answer: D
Notes:

Exp: Option d is the correct answer.

Statement 1 is correct: There are several types of enslavement that is given in Arthashastra. One of the prime methods of enslavement was to have a person as a slave as a result of judicial punishment for some sort of criminal demeanor.

Statement 2 is correct: There were variety of protection offered to the slaves, especially to the women slaves. As per the Arthashastra, When a child is begotten on a female slave by her master, both the child and its mother shall at once be recognised as free.

Statement 3 is correct: According to the Arthshastra, 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.

Source: https://ncjindalps.com/pdf/HUMANITIES/The%20Kautilya%20Arthashastra%20-%20Chanakya.pdf

[ Pg 70, 450,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3632125

[pg 192-193]

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