From the Vedas to Sutra and Smriti texts, from the time honoured epics to the foreigners’ travelogues and literary classics — leave alone Kautilya’s far-famed Arthashastra and other treatises of its genre, ancient Indian literature carries myriad references, bearing out not just the principles, philosophy and mechanisms of good governance, but the existence of a well-organised, hierarchical civil service as well. Yet Dr. Pandey’s happens to be the first ...
