UPSC Prelims 2022 · GS Paper I
Question 60: History and Culture
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 ?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).
In Kautilya's Arthashastra, a female slave who bears her master a son is freed along with the child, and the son born to a slave woman by her master has the status of the master's son and is free, so statements 2 and 3 are correct. UPSC treats statement 1 as incorrect: the text's rules on slavery centre on birth, capture, sale and pledge, and generally protect an Arya from enslavement.
- 1. UPSC does not accept judicial punishment as a route to slavery in the Arthashastra.
- 2. A female slave who bore her master a son became free.
- 3. A son fathered by the master had the status of the master's son.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is not correct, (a), (c) and (d) go: each of them includes 1.
What you needed to know: UPSC does not accept judicial punishment as a route to slavery in the Arthashastra.
Only (b) is left. You didn’t need statements 2 or 3.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong. Statement 1 is not accepted, and statement 3 is correct.
- (b) Correct. The freeing of the slave mother and the son's status are accepted.
- (c) Wrong. Statement 1 is not accepted and statement 2 is correct.
- (d) Wrong. UPSC treats statement 1 as incorrect.
Worth knowing: Whether judicial punishment could lead to slavery in the Arthashastra is arguable, but UPSC's key counts statement 1 as incorrect.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2022, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.