Jain Journal 2001 04

SR No.: 520142
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 92
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 4 MB

Page 62

CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF JAIN LITERATURE
SATYA RANJAN BANERJEE
In the following pages an attempt has been made to put all the main literary records and big events which have taken place in the history of Jainism into a simple chronological order. In order to show the events of Jainism in the context of world culture, I have started the chronology for the period from 4000 B.C. to A.D. 2000. It is my intention to show that from this series of charts, one can very quickly see when any particular work was written or what other events took place at the same time in the same period. This chart will help the scholars, I believe, to look at the events at a glance.
The six thousand years (from 4000 B.C. to 2000 A.D.) have been broken up into several historical periods of India. These periods have been calculated in accordance with the historical periods of India. These historical periods of India are taken from the History and Culture of the Indian Peopleby R.C. Majumdar and published by the Bhāratiya Vidyā Bhavana, Bombay, in several volumes, from 1950 onwards. Most of the historical dates used in this dissertation are taken from the above book. Apart from this book, the History of India Literature, Vol-II, by Maurice Wintenitz, Calcutta University, 1933, has also been consulted for the dates of Jain works and authors. The dates of Jain authors and works are also taken from the said book. Besides these, the three books of H.R. Kapadia, namely, History of the Canonical Literature of the Jains (Bombay, 1941), Jain Religion and Literature, Vol-I, part 1 (Lahore, 1944), and Jinaratnakosa, Vol-1, (Poona, 1944) have also been consulted for the history of Jain authors and works. In addition to these, Albrecht Weber's Sacred Literature of the Jains (published by Jain Bhawan, Calcutta, 1999) has also been taken into consideration. Moreover, the introductions to the different editions of the works of H. Glasenapp, W. Schubring, A.N. Upadhye, Hiralal Jain and many others have also been consulted.
In should be noted that in the earlier parts the dates of Jain authors and works are in the doldrums; no definite periods can be assigned to them. But as I will have to.start from somewhere, I have accepted the dates, traditional or otherwise, of the works. For example, the dates of