The Manusmriti attained its current form around the second century CE

Evidence

After taking all facts into consideration Prof Bühler has fixed a date which appears to strike the truth. According to Bühler, the Manusmriti, in the shape in which it exists now, came into existence in the Second Century AD. … A contemporary scholar, J.L. Brockington (1996, 92) arrives at a similar conclusion. … As C.J. Fuller (2003, 484) notes, British administrators depended on Dharmashastras such as the Manusmriti to develop a legal system for India, thus subjecting the Hindu population as a whole to a Brahminical legal code. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1119

Categorization

• XREF: Relates to the British colonial codification angle in ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ on externally imposed legal-moral codes.