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INTRODUCTION
great favourite of the King Kardama-Rāja, the Ruler of Tribhuvana-Giri.
If these names occuring in Prasastis are authentic, then it can be said that either Abhayadeva had two disciples bearing the names Dhanesvara and Jineśvara or that Abhayadeva had only one disciple bearing these two names. In the same manner the King Muñja referred in Prasasti of Siddhasena and the King Kardama referred to in the Prasasti of Prabhā-Candra are either two separate persons or only one individual bearing two separate names. Perhaps Dhanes vara, respected by the King Kardama, is a different person from Dhanesvara respected by the King Muñja. At any rate Abhayadeva and his disciples are historical personages and Abhayadeva can be identified with the present commen-tator of Sanmati. This Abhayadeva came from the family of Candra and was the disciple of PradyumnaSūri who belonged to the school of Candra-Gaccha. His date approximately ranges from the latter half of -the tenth century of Vikram Era to the first half of the 11th Century. There were many disciples and students of Abhayadeva, and they were scattered over a large area. There were many able scholars among his pupils. Many of them were highly respected by the then existing Kings. Unfortunately we do not get any information about the caste, the parentage and the birthplace of Abhayadeva. There are however, strong reasons to suppose that the Province of his religious activities was Gujrat and Rajputana.
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