Written sometime between 400-200 BCE, the Kamasutra is well known in the west as a manual depicting various contorted sexual positions. However, what it also represents is a member of the Shastra genre dealing with the earthly goal of Kama – pleasure. Seated within the broader Shastra tradition the Kamasutra provides insight into a period of Indian history that produced other influential Shastra texts such as the Manusmriti and Arthashastra.
