In this study the author has tried to make clear the relation which forests had with the life and the state policy in ancient India. In the first section, the author examines the forests (arañña, vana, aṭavī) found in the Pāli canons. The points discussed are; forests (arañña) were regarded as places distinct from settled agricultural society (villages and towns), and used as sanctuaries by those who renounced the world; forests supplied agricultural society with rich forest products; forests, especially aṭavī, were the place where demi-gods and demons (rukkhadevatās, yakkhas, rakkhasas,), thieves (coras) and forest tribes (aṭavīs) lived; forest tribes often ravaged villages and trade routes, but they also maintained peaceful and economic relations with people in agricultural society; people in the Buddha's time were striving to bring forests under cultivation, but they were also aware of the disadvantages, which the needless cutting and burning of trees and forests brought. In the second section, the author shows the importance of the forests for state policy using the Artaśāstra as a source material. The examination is centered around the elephant forest (hastirana) and the material forest (dravyavana). In the Artaśāstra, there are scattered descriptions of the forest tribes (aṭavīs, āṭavikas). The third section examines the relationship between the state and the āṭavikas. The āṭavikas were a special danger to the state, but once suitably treated became powerful allies of the ambitious king (vijigīṣu). The Artaśāstra is a book of political theory, but it is not certain whether the theories discussed in it were actually put into practice. But the Aśokan Rock Edict XIII shows clearly that the policy against the āṭavikas was really important for maintaining the peace and order of the state.
