Codification of the Caste System in the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu)
- Date
- c. 100 CE
- Category
- Religion & ideology
- Region
- South Asia
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
The Manusmriti, or Manava-Dharmashastra (Laws of Manu), is the most influential of the Hindu Dharmashastra legal-religious treatises, with its received metrical text generally dated by scholars to between 200 BCE and 200 CE and often placed around the 1st to 2nd century CE.
Attributed to the mythical first man and lawgiver Manu, it was likely a composite work later redacted into a coherent treatise, possibly by a single editor. The text systematised the fourfold varna order of Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (merchants), and Shudras (labourers and servants), devoting extensive verses to Brahmin precedence while sharply restricting Shudras from Vedic study and ritual and treating them as bound to the service of the higher orders. By giving the varna and jati hierarchy an authoritative religious-legal articulation tied to dharma, purity, and birth, the Manusmriti helped fix one of the world's most enduring and consequential social structures. Sir William Jones translated it into English in 1794, and British colonial administrators used it as a foundation for Anglo-Hindu law, magnifying its rigidity, while modern reformers such as B. R. Ambedkar publicly burned it as a symbol of caste oppression.
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Empires active in c. 100 CE
- Kushan Empire30 CE – 375 CE
- Satavahana Dynasty230 BCE – 220 CE
- Han Dynasty202 BCE – 220 CE
- Roman Empire27 BCE – 476 CE
- Kingdom of Funan50 CE – 550 CE
- Zapotec State of Monte Albán500 BCE – 800 CE
Related religion & ideology events
- Roman destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem70 CE
- Nagarjuna Founds the Madhyamaka School and Systematises Mahayana Philosophyc. 150 CE
- Crucifixion of Jesus and the origins of Christianityc. 30 CE
- Judah ha-Nasi Codifies the Mishnahc. 200 CE
- Indianisation of Southeast Asia: Spread of Hindu-Buddhist Culturec. 1st century CE
- Buddhism reaches China and the White Horse Temple is foundedc. 67-68 CE (traditional)
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Religion
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