Which of the following Dharmashastras is considered the oldest and forms the earliest legal text among the major Smritis?

💡 Solution & Explanation

The Gautama Dharmasutra is traditionally regarded as the oldest surviving legal manual among the ancient Dharmasutras, which predated the verse Smritis like the Manusmriti. While works such as Manusmriti and Narada Smriti represent later, more fully developed metric treatises on Hindu law, Gautama's text belongs to the Vedic school traditions. These early legal texts primarily emerged from the Kalpasutras attached to various Vedic shakhas.