The World of Courtesans c7.17

c7.17

The courtesans, since they were an important source of revenue, were provided with all the instruments of their trade, such as fine clothes. They had no authority to set free their slaves on payment of stipulated sums. We do not know how much the state spent on their large establishments (which in certain cases in later times were as big as palaces). According to the *Arthashastra*, however, the Superintendent did not allow them to buy jewelry, as that would have meant an irregular use of state funds. As the vice of prostitution yielded a considerable revenue to the state, Kautilya with his shrewd economic sense advised state-controlled prostitution. He thought that it was bound to yield the state a higher revenue than the collection of taxes from individual prostitutes.