King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India

King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India by Patrick Olivelle is an annotated translation of Kautilya’s Arthasastra. It has 15 chapters and three appendices, which allow the author to stay close to the original text.

As a student of Sanskrit literature, it is difficult not to know Patrick Olivelle. He is probably one of the most remarkable scholars in this field. With a PhD in History of Indian Religions from the University of Pennsylvania, Olivelle started his career teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University from 1974 to 1991. Later, he moved to Texas where he served as Chair of the Department of Asian Studies and Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions at the prestigious University of Austin from 1994 to 2007.