This paper has two purposes. The first is to provide an accurate definition and history of the origin of the Sanskrit term akṣayanīvī. The standard scholarly translation of this term, which is encountered almost exclusively in inscriptions, is “permanent endowment” and has been established since the mid-19th century. It will be shown that the usual translations of both members of the compound—akṣaya as “permanent” and nīvī as “endowment”—are at the least misleading. This will be accomplished through a discussion of the occurrences of the terms in the Adhyakṣapracāra “Activities of Superintendents” (Book II of the Kauṭilya Arthaśāstra), with a particular focus on KA 2.6.27 which contains an explicit definition of nīvī. The second purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the Adhyakṣapracāra, the largest and most perplexing chapter of the KA, utilizes a technical vocabulary which points to a specific context of production. This will be done through an examination of a series of fiscal and administrative technical terms which occur in the Adhyakṣapracāra and which emerge in the Indian epigraphic record at around the time period and geographic region commonly given for the composition of the text (ca. 1st c. BCE—1st c. CE Western Maharashtra/Southern Gujarat).

中文翻译：

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Akṣayanivī 的起源和 Arthaśāstra 的历史背景

本文有两个目的。首先是提供梵语术语起源的准确定义和历史阿克萨亚尼维. 这个术语的标准学术翻译几乎完全出现在铭文中，是“永久禀赋”，自 19 世纪中叶以来就已确立。将显示该复合词的两个成员的通常翻译——无所畏惧作为“永久”和尼维作为“捐赠”——至少具有误导性。这将通过讨论术语在Adhyakṣapracara“管理者的活动”（书籍二的Kauṭilya Arthaśāstra), 特别关注K A2.6.27 其中包含一个明确的定义尼维. 本文的第二个目的是证明Adhyakṣapracara，最大和最令人困惑的一章K A，使用指向特定生产环境的技术词汇。这将通过检查一系列财政和行政技术术语来完成，这些术语出现在Adhyakṣapracara并且出现在印度金石记录中的时间段和地理区域通常被指定为文本的组成（约 1 世纪。公元前—1 摄氏度CE认证西马哈拉施特拉邦/南古吉拉特邦）。