Donald R. Davis, Jr is an associate professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of
The Spirit of Hindu Law (2010) and
The Boundaries of Hindu Law: Tradition, Custom, and Politics in Medieval Kerala (2004).
Business law in medieval and early modern India developed within the voluminous and multifaceted texts called the Dharmashastras. These texts laid down rules for merchants, traders, guilds, farmers, and individuals in terms of the complex religious, legal, and moral ideal of dharma.
This exciting book provides a new perspective on commercial law in this period. In addition to a description of the substantive rules for business, the book reinterprets the role of business and commerce within the law generally and demonstrates that modern assumptions about good business practice could benefit from the insights of this ancient tradition. It thus makes a compelling case for the relevance of the dharma of business to our own time.
