"Write a essay on Nature of GST in Kautilya Arthshastra". Can't figure out the relation between GST and Kautilya? There is an option then, "Manu is the first Indian thinker of Globalisation".

Baffled?

The students of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) felt the same when they were asked to answer any one of these questions for 15 marks during an examination for a course titled "Social and Political Thought in Ancient and Medieval India".

via GIPHY

The paper comes under BHU's MA in Political Science course.

It was difficult for the students to come up with a "correct answer" as the textbooks didn't explain Kautilya's views on GST or Manu's thoughts on Globalisation, maybe because these concepts are relatively "new".

However, a student told the Indian Express that the professor, who taught them and set the question paper, had dictated answers to them and told them that they would be asked these questions in the exam.

"They are not part of our textbooks but we took down notes", a student told Indian Express .Other students of colleges affiliated to BHU, however, claimed that the questions asked were not a part of their course material.

Professor Kaushal Kishore Mishra, who set the question paper, told Indian Express that he "interpreted the two thinkers and taught their philosophies through new and current examples like GST and globalisation".

On Kautilya

Professor Mishra is of the belief that Kautilya's Arthashastra is the first Indian book which hints at GST. "Kautilya is one such thinker who propounded national economic integration - ekikaran", he said.

FYI: Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, was the chief advisor of first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta and is considered a pioneer in the field of political science and economics in India.

On Manu

Mishra went on to tell his students that Manu was first thinker to "introduce the tradition of globalisation in the world". He said German philosopher Nietzsche lauded Manu's economic, political and religious principles and later his ideas were adopted by various countries.