Shudras in Ancient India: A Social History of the Lower Order down to circa A.D. 600 c15.1

c15.1

The time bracket 200 B.C.—A.D. 200 suggested by Bühler for the *Manu Smṛti* covers a period of four hundred years.¹ Jayaswal substantially delimits this period and ascribes Manu to the period of the brāhmaṇical ‘counterrevolution’ in the age of the Śuṅgas.² But a careful study of the law-book of Nārada (fifth-sixth century) would show that the brāhmaṇas are given equally, if not more, important privileges by that lawgiver. A comparison of some technical terms used in Manu with those found in inscriptions also suggests a late date for this law-book.