[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958) › c13.28 # Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c13.28 Śūdras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c13.28 - **Language:** English ### [c13.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.28) The Buddhist works Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra and Vajrasūci also supply some information about the position of the śūdras. The former was compiled before A.D. 443,³ but the date of the latter is not so certain. It does not seem to be the work of Aśvaghoṣa, who flourished in the post-Mauryan period, for it does not find place in the list of his works mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim I-tsing.⁴ The Chinese translation, done between A.D. 973-981, ascribes it to the Buddhist logician Dharmakīrti, who in all probability flourished in the fifth century A.D.⁵ Quotations from the Manu Smṛti in the Vajrasūci show that the latter belonged to a later period. The major Buddhist and Jain⁶ commentaries, which probably belong to this period, also give some incidental references about the subject of our study. - [Previous: c13.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.27) - [Next: c13.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.29) - [Up: c13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.sharma-1958.c13.28) · Pramāṇa