Abstract: A systematical experiment on a compacted cohesive soil has been carried out to investigate the effects of inherent and induced aniatropy. In the tests, a Torsional Shear Hollow Cylinder apparatus with different internal and external pressure to the specimen was used. The results show that the behaviors of stress-strain relation, shear strength and deformation of the compacted cohesive soil depend significantly on the principal stress  direction. The maximUm difference of failure strength among various principal stress direction is up to 30%. The initial moisture content of the specimen and sires level can influence the degree of inherent anisotropy. The induced anisotropy is developed  by unloading or by continuously rotating the principal stress direction. It das not affect the drained shear strength, but influences the behaviors of stress-strain and deformation sighficantly.