________________ STATE OF JAINISM DURING THE GUPTA PERIOD Hruen-Tsiang, who travelled through India after the Gupta Empire had come to an end, found them spread through the whole of India, and even beyond its boundaries. It would be very interesting indeed to follow this scattered information about Jainism, yet such lucubrations would be beyond our purpose. The documents quoted suffice, however, to confirm the assertion that during the first five centuries after Mahavira's Narvana both the statements of Buddhist tradition and real historical sources give evidence to the existence of the Jainas as an important religious community independent of Buddhism, and that there are among the historical sources some which entirely clear away the suspicion that the tradition of the Jainas themselves is in any way falsified 1 << Hruen-Tsang's note on the appearance of the Nigrantha or Digambar in Kuapishi points to the fact that they had, in the north-west at least, spread their missionary activity beyond the borders of India"-Buhler, Indian Sect of the Jarnas, pp 3-4, 4; Beal, op. cit,1,P 55
