Kautilya's Arthashastra 1.14.7

1.14.7

"yathā madāndho hastī mattenādhiṣṭhito yad yad āsādayati tat sarvaṃ pramṛdnāti, evam ayam aśāstracakṣur andho rājā paurajānapadavadhāyābhyutthitaḥ, śakyam asya pratihastiprotsāhanenāpakartum, amarṣaḥ kriyatām" iti kruddhavargam upajāpayet //

Of these, he who clings to a particular faction shall be so deluded by spies with shaved head or braided hair as to believe that he is intriguing with that party. Partisans under provocation, for example, may be won over by telling that ‘just as an elephant in rut and mounted over by a driver under intoxication tramples under its foot whatever it comes across, so this king, dispossessed of the eye of science, blindly attempts to oppress both citizens and country people; it is possible to restrain him by setting up a rival elephant against him; so have forbearance enough (to wait).’