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118 :: Aspects of Jaina Religion
belagola in Karnāțaka was the centre of their activities and it occupies the same position even up to the present day.
Jainism, however, began to decline in south India from the 12th century due to the growing importance of Srivaişņavism and Virasaivism.
3. Jainism in West India
Jainism had very close relations with western India, that is, Gujarat and Kathiawar, where we find the largest concentration of the Jainas at present. Here on the Mount Girnar in Junagarh district, Lord Neminātha, the 22nd Tirthankara of the Jainas, attained salvation. Here in the council of Jaina ascetics held at Valabhi in the year 993 after Lord Mahāvīra, that is, in 466 A.D. the Jaina canon was, for the first time, reduced to writing. Just as south India is the stronghold of Digambara Jainas, similarly, west India is the centre of activities of Svetāmbara Jainas.
Regarding the migration of Jainas to these parts of India, it is thought that the migrations must have taken place by 300 B.C. from Eastern India. In this connection the Cambridge History of India has given the following conclusion:
"From the facts that the Jainas tell us something about the reigns of Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusāra but at the same time they have practically nothing to tell about the reigns of Asoka and his successors in East India and that the division of the Jaina Church into two great sects of the Digambaras and Svetāmbaras had probably begun after the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. It is concluded that the Jainas were probably already at this time, i.e., 300 B.C., gradually losing their position in the kingdom of Magadha, and that they had begun their migration towards the western part of India, where they settled and where they have retained their settlements to the present day.”
(A) In Gujarat
Jainism flourished in Gujarat during the days of Rāştrakūta monarchs, many of whom were devout Jainas, and it received
