________________
INTRODUCTION
on account of his being born of the Kshatriya or military clan known as Jnåt or Nat. Numerous references are also to be found in Brahminical writings about the Nigganthas and their faith.
Important mention has also been made of the Jain System of Philosophy in several of the most ancient Indian works. And so far ao its antiquity is concerned, it is now admitted SHAH hands that Jainism is not an off-shoot of Buddhism. It had been in existence long before Buddhism was conceived. Its independent existence has also been conclusively traced out both by external and internal evidences from various works of high antiquity in recent years. Special mention may be made of the discovery of a Faina Stupa at Mathura which gives evidence of its existence from nearly two thousand years back. It is very likely that future researches will throw a flood of light on the theory that Buddhism is rather a branch of Jainism. From a reference to Jainism in the Rig Veda, it has been held that the system in question must have been contemporary with the Vedic culture or even earlier than the latter.
