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COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF JAINISM
dated V.S. 1080, is a Digambara record.486 The third, dated V.S. 1134, is a Svatāmbara image inscription. 487 The Digambara epigraph is more interesting as it proves that by V.S. 1080 (A.D. 1022-24), the Jains, once more, started taking active interest in Mathurā. It has been observed by Bühler 88 that the image was built within five years after Mahmud's expedition against (Hizri 409) Mathurā, which resulted in the total destruction of that city. Probably the great Jain establishment at Kankālītilā escaped destruction, “for it seems hardly likely that they could have been rebuilt so quickly”. It should, however, be remembered that the Jains bad indomitable religious zeal and their religious history in Rajasthan proves that they were capable of rebuilding their temples, almost immediately after their destruction by the Muslim iconoclasts. Contemporary literary evidence at our disposal, also proves that Mathurā continued to exist as a centre of Jainism in the mediaeval period.
Several Jain epigraphs, of our period, have been discovered from other parts of Northern India and the Jain tirthas continued to exist in Sind, Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa etc. Some of these tirthas will be noticed in the chapter on “Jain t]rtbas' in this volume.
To conclude, we must say, that except Rajasthan and Gujarat, no other state of India offered favourable climate for the development of this religion. We have still some standing temples, dedicated to Jinas in Bengal, Bihar and other parts of Northern India. There is little doubt that small groups of Jain Śrävakas continued to exist, especially in Bengal, Bibar and Orissa. But gradually, even these Śrāvakas merged with the local population and completely forgot their original faith,
| SR No. | 002003 |
| Book Title | Comprehensive History of Jainism Volume II |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Aseem Kumar Chaterjee |
| Publisher | Firma KLM Pvt Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1984 |
| Total Pages | 414 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, History, & Religion |
| File Size | 19 MB |