War in Ancient India c5.s4.8

c5.s4.8

Another was to cut off supplies from the enemy, especially if they were contraband. Harbour officials had, according to the *Arthaśāstra*, the right of seizing or destroying seaborne goods in ships bound for the enemy’s country. This holds good for piratical vessels, though the property thus seized was restored to the owner.¹²⁶ In this, as in so many of his injunctions, the practical statesman Kauṭalya anticipates modern times.