The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian text widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature written by Vātsyāyana. A portion of the work consists of practical advice on sexual intercourse. It is largely in prose, with many inserted anustubh poetry verses. "Kāma" means sensual or sexual pleasure, and "sūtra" literally means a thread or line that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual.
Historian John Keay says that the Kama Sutra is a compendium that was collected into its present form in the 2nd century CE.
The most widely known English translation of the Kama Sutra was privately printed in 1883. It is usually attributed to renowned orientalist and author Sir Richard Francis Burton, but the chief work was done by the pioneering Indian archaeologist, Bhagvanlal Indraji, under the guidance of Burton's friend, the Indian civil servant Foster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, and with the assistance of a student, Shivaram Parshuram Bhide.