author
Arthur Berriedale Keith
1879–1944
A scholar who moved with ease between ancient Indian texts and the constitutional questions of the British Empire, he wrote with unusual range and authority. His work helped bring Sanskrit literature, Vedic religion, and comparative philology to a wider English-speaking audience.
1 Audiobook
The Sanskrit drama : in its origin, development, theory and practice
by Arthur Berriedale Keith
About the author
Born in 1879 and educated in Edinburgh and at Balliol College, Oxford, he became known as a Scottish constitutional lawyer, Sanskrit scholar, and Indologist. He later served at the University of Edinburgh as Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology, while also lecturing on the constitution of the British Empire.
His books reflect that rare combination of interests. Alongside studies of constitutional history and imperial government, he produced major work on Sanskrit literature, Vedic religion and philosophy, and Indian epic and legal traditions. That breadth made him an important interpreter of both classical Indian learning and the political structures of his own time.
He died in 1944. Although not a household name today, he remains notable for the sheer scope of his scholarship and for writing across fields that are usually kept far apart.