Dated to the late medieval period, the Shiva Samhita seems to have taken shape around the 16th or 17th century CE. Its exact birthplace remains a little foggy—some suggest Rajasthan or Gujarat—yet most scholars today lean toward a 17th-century composition. Textual clues, language style and references to tantric practices familiar in Mughal-era India all point that way.

Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) brought it to Western attention in the early 20th century, but the manuscript he translated was itself a few centuries old by then. More recently, renowned Indologists like Mark Singleton and Jason Birch have compared various family of manuscripts, whittling down the likely date to sometime between 1500 and 1700 CE. A smattering of Sanskrit verses echo techniques also found in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th c.), yet the Shiva Samhita’s chapter on Kundalini and subtle-body anatomy adds a distinctly tantric flair that feels like the era when yogic lineages were quietly forging new paths in secret.

It’s fascinating how a text written centuries ago still ripples through today’s global yoga scene—whether in a studio tucked into Manhattan’s Lower East Side or during International Yoga Day livestreams in June. Its blend of breath-work, postures and philosophical musings laid groundwork for modern practitioners hungry for authentic roots. That medieval whisper of Shiva’s own teachings remains very much alive whenever the world rolls out a mat.