The Shulbasutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba, Katyayana and Manava: With Text, English Translation and Commentary c5.s1.11

c5.s1.11

Regarding Baudhāyana and Mānava, both have been considered definitely older than Āpastamba, as their archaic style of writing would indicate. Mānava whose works were used by Āpastamba wrote more or less in the *Brāhmaṇa* style, and Richard Garbe considered his *sūtra* as the oldest, but that, as Keith points out, was before the text of Baudhāyana was known. Baudhāyana's archaic *Brāhmaṇa* style, is clearly discernible in his *uttarati* as also in all his *sūtra* writings. Considering all this, Keith's conservative estimate for Baudhāyana's date was fifth century B.C. while Caland was prepared to place him in the sixth century B.C. in his *Über das Rituelle Sūtra des Baudhāyana*.a Mānava doubtless should be placed somewhere between Baudhāyana and Āpastamba. P. V. Kane in his *History of Dharmasūtras* dated the *Śrautasūtras* of Baudhāyana, Āpastamba and Kātyāyana between 800 B.C. and 400 B.C. Ramgopal who considered the sequence between Baudhāyana and Āpastamba, Āpastamba and Pāṇini, Pāṇini and Kātyāyana and Kātyāyana and Patañjali, more or less agreed with Kane and concluded that the principal *sūtras* were composed between *c.* 800 B.C. and 500 B.C.