The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c21.51

c21.51

¹ Śukranīti was edited by Gustav Oppert, Madras, 1882. The editor (Introduction, p. VIII) ascribed it to the 4th century A.D., but besides other difficulties, this hypothesis supposes the existence of guns and gunpowder in ancient India. In support of Oppert's view, see B. K. Sarkar, Positive Background of Hindu Sociology. Book II, Part I, pp. 63—71. K. P. Jayaswal places the work in the 8th century A.D. Rājendra Lāla Mitra perceived long ago that the Śukranīti could not be older than the 16th century A.D.