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Jaina Bronzes in the Patna Museum
H. K. PRASAD
THE Patna Museum has got a fine collection of Jaina bronzes. These
are from two places, namely, Chausā in Shahabad District and Machuātānd Aluārā in district Manbhum. In style and execution, the Chausā Jaina bronzes are quite different from the Aluāra Jaina bronzes. They are, therefore, discussed here separately.
A. THE CHAUSÀ JAINA BRONZES In about the year 1931 from a field at Chausā', a hoard of 18 Jaina bronzes was discovered while digging the earth. It consisted of a
1 Chausā is a village in Buxar sub-division in the district of Shahabad.
It is very close to the Karmanāsa river which is about 4 miles west of Buxar town on the East Indian Railway, and lies in between 25° 31' North and 83° 54' East. In Indian history, it is mostly remembered as the place where the Moghul Emperor Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah in June 1539. It was also an important centre of Jainism at one time, which fact we can infer from the significant finds of the above Jaina bronzes in a hoard, and other Jaina antiquities near about it. At Masārh, not far away from Chausā and about 6 miles to the west of Arrah town (Dist. Headquarter of Shahabad), some Jaina antiquities have been found. Arrah itself abounds in a number of Jaina temples-some of them
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