The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.180

v1.c17.180

For the date of the epoch of the Brāhmaṇas we are again thrown back on those considerations of literary and social development which we have found to be the sole trustworthy criteria for the dating of the epoch of the Rigveda. The lower limit is given by the fact that Buddhism accepts from the Upanishads the doctrines of transmigration and pessimism, the latter of which had been developed as a doctrine of obvious validity from the facts of transmigration. Other indications, such as the want of any trace of the knowledge of writing, show that we cannot legitimately carry the Upanishads of the older type later than 550 or perhaps more probably 600 b.c. The fixing of the language which is posterior to the Brāhmaṇas may be dated at latest at 300 b.c.; and the earlier Sūtras probably go back to at least 400 b.c. and very possibly earlier. These are important considerations and their cumulative effect is harmonious and practically decisive of an early date for the civilisation which has been described. On considerations of probable development, the beginning of the Brāhmaṇa period may fairly be put back to 800 B.C.